The government has cleared a package of measures for public sector units and also gave the green light to the much delayed Rs 4,091 crore (Rs 40.91 billion) Nalco expansion plan.

The Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs considered a jumbo agenda of 33 items but the decisions were not made public due to the Maharashtra polls.

As Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel was not in the Capital, the issue of hiking the foreign direct investment cap in civil aviation was not discussed.

The steel policy and the broadband policy were also on the agenda along with a review of the metal scrap import policy by the Cabinet Committee on Security. Telecom and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran is expected to announce the broadband policy on Thursday.

The Cabinet also approved the setting up of an Empowered Group of Ministers to look at divestment-related issues, particularly the setting of price bands for public offers of government stake in PSUs.

Other decisions on PSUs included the establishment of the Board of Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises, clearance for statutory dues worth Rs 384 crore (Rs 3.84 billion) for 24 PSUs under the heavy industry ministry and extension of the Purchase Preference Policy by another year.

A special group of senior officials in the government will eventually decide whether the PPP will be extended or scrapped.

Officials said the Cabinet decided to continue with the PPP in its existing form, following protests from the Planning Commission and the ministries of finance and power, which opposed an decrease in the cut-off level of purchases from Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) to Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million).

The BRPSE is likely to have seven members, comprising senior government officials from various departments, including heavy industry, expenditure, petroleum and natural gas among others. It will also include two sitting experts and a domain expert, depending on the case.

The heavy industry ministry has identified seven loss-making PSUs as fit cases for closure, while retaining 11 PSUs for revival. The list will now be forwarded to the BRPSE, which has replaced the divestment commission.

An agreement on services with Brazil was cleared along with amendments to the Chartered Accountants Act, the Company Secretaries Act and the Cost and Works Accountants Act. The government wants to amend the laws to alter the strength of the council and make it mandatory to comply with government directions.

The food-for-work programme for 150 districts was cleared, but the launch date is to be announced later. The programme, which is a precursor to the Employment Guarantee Act, is estimated to cost the government Rs 2,020 crore (Rs 20.20 billion) during the current fiscal.