The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved the revival plan of Bangalore-based Indian Telephones Industry (ITI) with an outlay of Rs 1,100 crore.As a part of the revival plan, the government will infuse Rs 200 crore equity, Rs 458 crore for the VRS, Rs 50 crore for capital expenditure and Rs 93 crore for clearing provident fund dues in the current year, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said after the CCEA meeting. The government has also written off interest and penal interest rate of Rs 23.67 crore for the revival of ITI.The Cabinet also cleared a draft concession agreement to be executed between the Centre and the newly set up Hyderabad International Airports Ltd (HIAL), thus paving the way for building a greenfield airport near Hyderabad. The project is proposed to be implemented on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis with private sector participation at a total estimated cost of Rs 1,385 crore. The agreement will be signed in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Malaysian counterpart on Monday.The Cabinet had in April this year accorded ‘‘in Principle’’ approval to the proposals of the state government for construction of the airport of international standards under joint venture with private sector participation. To carry the airport project forward, an MoU was signed between Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Andhra Pradesh government as per which they would together hold 26 per cent of the equity of the project, while the balance would be held by the joint venture private sector partner.The CCEA also approved a Rs 800 crore proposal of HRD ministry for the introduction of information and communication technology in schools. Of the Rs 800 crore allotted for 10th Five Year Plan, 75 per cent of the cost will be borne by the Centre and the remaining 25 per cent by the states.
