The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared five big decisions worth Rs 77,101 crore. The largest is a Rs 62,370 crore subsidy on fertilisers for the rabi season, so farmers keep paying the same price for DAP. The other four cover a new national museum in Delhi, help for small businesses, and a metro line in Noida. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting, and minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the decisions after it.
Updated: 12 November 2026, 10:00 IST
Quick Read
- The Cabinet approved a Rs 62,370 crore subsidy on phosphatic and potassic fertilisers for rabi 2026-27 (1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027). A 50-kg bag of DAP stays at Rs 1,350.
- A Rs 3,230 crore Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum will come up in Delhi’s North and South Blocks, billed as the world’s largest museum. Its first gallery is due in late 2027.
- Stand-Up India and the Mudra loan guarantee schemes were extended to 31 March 2031, and the Noida Metro Aqua Line will run 8.449 km further to Greater Noida Sector 4.
1. Rs 62,370 crore for fertilisers
This is the biggest item by far: Nutrient Based Subsidy rates for phosphatic and potassic fertilisers — the P and K in NPK — for the rabi season, 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, at a tentative cost of Rs 62,370.02 crore.
Under this scheme, the government pays a fixed subsidy on each kg of nutrient: Rs 94.21 per kg for nitrogen, Rs 66.11 for phosphorus, and Rs 10.42 for sulphur. Potash stays unchanged at Rs 2.38 per kg. The subsidy covers DAP, MOP, SSP and NPKS grades. For a farmer, the key line is simple: a 50-kg bag of DAP stays at Rs 1,350. It does not go up, even though world fertiliser prices have risen sharply. The government blames the West Asia crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war. “The Modi government has provided a shield to farmers from geopolitical turmoil,” Vaishnaw said.
The scale is worth noting. This rabi subsidy is about Rs 24,417.73 crore more than last rabi season, and about 50 per cent more than the kharif season that just ended. The total subsidy on P and K fertilisers for 2026-27 has now reached Rs 1,03,903 crore, nearly double the Rs 54,000 crore budgeted.
Also read: HDFC hikes loan rates: your EMI may rise 15 bps
2. Rs 3,230 crore for the Yuge Yugeen Bharat museum
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs cleared Rs 3,230 crore to build the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum in the North and South Block complex in New Delhi. The two old government blocks will be turned into a museum through adaptive reuse — the buildings keep their shape and heritage look, but become a public cultural space instead of offices. It is billed as the world’s largest museum by display area: about 1,78,509 square metres, holding nearly 30,000 visitors a day.
The plan was first announced on 18 May 2023, and the Cabinet endorsed moving offices out of the two blocks in February 2026. Work runs in phases from 2026-27 to 2030-31; the first gallery, on adornment, is expected to open in late 2027. No full opening date has been announced.
3. Stand-Up India extended to 2031
The Stand-Up India scheme, which gives bank loans to women and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs starting new businesses, has been extended five years, to 31 March 2031. The Cabinet also cleared a Rs 4,111 crore credit guarantee corpus to back the loans.
Under the scheme, an eligible entrepreneur can borrow between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to set up a greenfield enterprise — a business being set up for the first time. The loan can cover up to 85 per cent of the project cost, and the government guarantees 85 per cent of the loan to the bank, at a fee of 0.50 per cent. Since April 2016, the scheme has helped more than 2.75 lakh women and SC/ST entrepreneurs, and the new target is at least 2.5 lakh more in five years.
Also read: Sensex jumps 1200 pts to 8-month high today
4. Rs 5,000 crore guarantee fund for Mudra loans
The Cabinet also extended the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units by five years, to March 2031, and approved a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore for it. This fund backs loans under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, which lends to tiny businesses with no property to offer as security.
The official release says the Rs 5,000 crore corpus will support Mudra loans of Rs 12.6 lakh crore. Read that line with care: Rs 12.6 lakh crore is the amount of loans the fund is meant to support going forward, not money the government is handing out. The guarantee works like insurance for the bank — if a borrower cannot repay, the fund covers part of the loss. How big is Mudra already? As of September 2026, banks have sanctioned more than 60.36 crore Mudra loans worth Rs 43.34 lakh crore since the scheme began.
5. Noida Metro Aqua Line extended
The fifth decision extends the Noida-Greater Noida Metro’s Aqua Line from Noida Sector 51 to Greater Noida Sector 4: 8.449 km, five elevated stations, Rs 2,390 crore. It will meet the Delhi Metro’s Blue Line at Noida Sector 61, easing travel for Greater Noida West. After it opens, the two cities will have 71.878 km of metro network.
Also read: India-EU trade deal signing December
FAQ
What did the Cabinet approve on 11 November?
Five decisions worth Rs 77,101 crore: Rs 62,370 crore fertiliser subsidy for rabi 2026-27, Rs 3,230 crore national museum in Delhi, Rs 4,111 crore Stand-Up India corpus, Rs 5,000 crore Mudra fund, and Rs 2,390 crore Noida Metro extension.
Will fertiliser prices go up for farmers?
No, not for DAP. A 50-kg bag of DAP stays at Rs 1,350 for the rabi season, which runs to 31 March 2027. The government pays the difference through the subsidy.
What is the Rs 12.6 lakh crore Mudra figure?
It is the amount of Mudra loans the new Rs 5,000 crore guarantee fund is meant to support, per the official release. It is not new government spending. Separately, Mudra loans worth Rs 43.34 lakh crore have been sanctioned since the scheme began, as of September 2026.
Desk-original added context
Our own table of the five decisions: (1) Fertiliser subsidy — Rs 62,370.02 crore — farmers, rabi 2026-27; (2) Yuge Yugeen Bharat museum — Rs 3,230 crore — visitors, first gallery late 2027; (3) Stand-Up India guarantee corpus — Rs 4,111 crore — women and SC/ST first-time entrepreneurs, to March 2031; (4) Mudra guarantee fund — Rs 5,000 crore — tiny businesses, supports Rs 12.6 lakh crore of loans; (5) Noida Metro Aqua Line — Rs 2,390 crore — commuters in Noida and Greater Noida West. Our own arithmetic: the five amounts add up to Rs 77,101.02 crore, matching the Rs 77,101 crore package total, and the fertiliser subsidy alone is about 81 per cent of it. Our own check on the two big loan numbers: Rs 12.6 lakh crore is the loan volume the new Mudra corpus is meant to support, while Rs 43.34 lakh crore is what Mudra has already sanctioned since launch.
Sources
- The Times of India — Cabinet approves key 5 decisions (11 Nov, 200 verified)
- Daily Excelsior (PTI) — Cabinet extends Stand-Up India Scheme (12 Nov, 200 verified; quotes the official release, incl. per-kg NBS rates)
- The New Indian Express — Cabinet clears Rs 3,230 crore museum, Rs 62,370 crore fertiliser subsidy (11 Nov, 200 verified)
Sasanka Sekhar Pradhan is the founder of India Presents, an India-focused news site. He covers daily box-office trackers, India news, economy explainers, sports previews and festival guides — in simple English, so readers across India can follow fast-moving stories without jargon. His focus is what a story means for the reader: the number that matters, the source behind it, and what happens next. India Presents publishes daily, with day-trackers updated as new figures come in.
