Union Budget: E-Passports, Kisan Drones & Vande Bharat Trains to be Introduced

The Union government plans to issue E-passports from this year for the convenience of citizens.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced this while presenting the Union Budget 2022-23 on Tuesday.

A 2,000 km of the rail network will also be brought under the indigenous world class technology KAWACH, reported ANI.

“As a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat, a 2,000 km of the rail network will be brought under the indigenous world-class technology KAWACH, for safety and capacity augmentation in 2022-23,'' Sitharam said.

Moreover, 400 new generation Vande Bharat trains with better energy efficiency and passenger riding experience will be developed and manufactured during the next three years.

The national highways network will also be expanded by 25,000 km in during the new financial year.

Sitharaman said, “PM Gati Shakti Master Plan for Expressways will be formulated in 2022-23, to facilitate the faster movement of people and goods."

Rs 20,000 crore will be mobilized to complement public resources.

Data exchange among all-mode operators will be brought on Unified Logistics Interface Platform designed for Application Programming Interface (API).

She said, “API will enable efficient movement of goods, reduce logistics costs and time, assist just-in-time inventory management and eliminate tedious documentation”.

Contracts for the implementation of Multimodal Logistics Parks at four locations through the public-private partnership mode will be awarded in 2022-23.

The agricultural sector will further see the promotion of Kisan Drones for crop assessment, digitization of land records and spraying of insecticides and nutrients.

She said, “Use of Kisan drones will be promoted for crop assessments, digitization of land records and spraying of insecticides and nutrients. States will be encouraged to revise syllabi of agri universities."

"We will promote chemical-free natural farming throughout the country, with focus on farmers' lands in 5-kilometre-wide corridors along the river Ganga in the first stage," she said.

Moreover, the Centre plans to implement a rationalized and comprehensive scheme to increase domestic production of oil seeds, which will reduce dependence on import of oil seeds.

The scheme will be implemented in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode for delivery of digital and hi-tech services to farmers, with involvement of public sector research and extension institutions and stakeholders of agri value chains.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will finance the start-ups for agriculture and rural enterprises.

"Funds to be facilitated through NABARD to finance start-ups for agriculture and rural enterprises that are relevant for farm produce value chain. Start-ups will support Farmer Producer Organizatipon Schemes and provide technology to farmers," the Union minister said.