CG Cabinet Okays Paddy Buying, Power Relief, Cashless Health

Raipur, 27 October 2026: A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai approved 19 decisions today. The key announcement is that paddy procurement will start on 15 November 2026, but the package also includes relief for power consumers, road contractors, and government employees, along with major investment projects.

The paddy purchase will cover farmers across Chhattisgarh for the Kharif marketing year 2026-27. The rate is Rs 3,100 per quintal, with a cap of 21 quintals per acre. More than 27.50 lakh farmers are expected to sell their produce.

Farmers registered on AgriStack last year will be automatically eligible and need not register again. They will also be exempt from submitting loan passbooks at societies. Paddy acreage will be measured through the Digital Crop Survey, and biometric authentication will ensure that only real farmers are paid. The state will open 360 new centres, taking the total to 3,100.

The cabinet ratified a sub-committee decision to dispose of surplus paddy from 2024-25 and 2025-26 through auction. It also revised the Krishak Unnati Yojana so that input assistance for paddy is paid per acre, not per quintal, to support diversification, income growth, and modern farming.

Households will continue to benefit from the M-Urja scheme. Domestic consumers using up to 200 units will keep getting concessions on electricity bills, and the 400-unit eligibility period has been extended to 31 March 2027. Roughly 7.25 lakh consumers will continue to receive relief.

Because bitumen prices rose abnormally, the government will give price relief to contractors. Rs 130.88 crore will be provided as a budget grant for Rural Road Development Agency works on bitumen used between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027. State-funded road contracts with tenders received before 1 April 2026 will also receive relief for bitumen used between 15 October and 31 December 2026. The extra cost is estimated at Rs 70 to 100 crore.

Government employees and dependants will receive cashless medical treatment at empanelled hospitals. Employees will not need to pay upfront or go through long reimbursement procedures. Pre-approval and claims will be handled online, which the government says will help during serious illness and emergencies.

For infrastructure, the Chief Minister Infrastructure Mission-2026 guidelines were approved for 2026-27 to 2030-31, with Rs 500 crore (Rs 100 crore a year). PWD will be the nodal department, and CGRIDCL will implement the mission. Planned work includes a state road master plan, GIS-based planning, digital tracking through WAMIS and e-Measurement Book, quality audits, road safety audits, and PPP models.

The Chief Minister Tourism Development Mission, themed 'Prosperity through Tourism', will run for five years with around Rs 500 crore. It aims to improve infrastructure, connectivity, safety, and cleanliness at tourist destinations while promoting homestays and private investment.

A 295-km rail line from Katghora to Dongargarh will be developed through 100 percent equity via the Chhattisgarh Railway Corporation Limited. Of the Rs 8,000 crore estimate, Rs 2,000 crore will be equity, with about Rs 1,000 crore each from the state and the Railway Ministry. The state share will come from the Mineral Development Fund, DMF, or the state budget.

The cabinet granted in-principle approval to five redevelopment projects in phase two, covering government land and assets in Durg, Ramanujganj, Jashpur, Sakti, and Dhamtari, under PPP. It also approved a revision to the Industrial Development Policy 2024-30, offering incentives for coal gasification projects of Rs 1,000 crore or more.

Other decisions include allotting 10 acres in Khaprikala village to the Central Warehousing Corporation and 31.55 acres in Somni village to NDDB for a multi-fruit processing facility, with about Rs 400 crore investment and expected employment for thousands. The cabinet also renamed Kura Nagar Panchayat as Kunwargadh, approved withdrawal of nine political agitation cases, created new posts in the Good Governance Department and forest headquarters, regularised service for family pension purposes, amended industrial land rules, and sanctioned the Chief Minister Khel Utkarsh Mission with Rs 100 crore for 2026-27.