NEW DELHI: The government announced a spate of policy changes on Wednesday, maintaining the pace of its hectic reform drive after the Bihar elections. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs ( CCEA ) approved a 10 per cent stake sale in Coal India Ltd, an initial public offering at Cochin Shipyard and a five-year interest subsidy scheme to boost sagging exports.CCEA also empowered the National Highways Authority of India ( NHAI ) to revive 34 stalled projects by compensating developers for delays not attributable to them by pushing forward the toll period. The move is aimed at freeing up projects worth Rs 35,000 crore.CCEA also cleared big-ticket railway projects adding up to nearly Rs 10,000 crore of investment and, for the first time, approved direct payment of a sugarcane production subsidy to farmers.Land costs will not be included in the cost of road projects, which gives the highways ministry leeway to clear more projects without having to approach the Cabinet.All these decisions will give a "huge boost to economic growth, to growth of exports, revival of stalled projects and bring back the momentum in the economy which this government has been striving for over the past 18 months", Coal & Power Minister Piyush Goyal said at a news briefing.Earlier this month, the government announced a big-bang recast of foreign direct investment ( FDI ) policy and a package to reboot the power sector though a restructuring package for ailing power distribution companies. The decisions are timely, said Sumit Mazumder, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry."The Cabinet decisions are targeted at revival of the economy and would go a long way towards boosting investor sentiments," he said in a release. "Disinvestment of Coal India, 3 per cent interest subsidy for exporters, and clearances to road and rail projects are all steps in the right direction."The sale of a 10 per cent stake in Coal India can fetch the government more than Rs 21,000 crore at current prices. The government now holds nearly 80 per cent of the company. The timing and pricing of the Coal India issue will be decided later by the finance ministry In the case of Cochin Shipyard, the approval is for the sale of 3.4 crore equity shares. This will comprise 2.26 crore new shares and 1.13 crore shares held by the government. The company is engaged in shipbuilding and ship repair and reported a net profit of Rs 233 crore in FY15 on a turnover of Rs 1,850 crore.The government is likely to miss its record disinvestment target of Rs 69,500 crore in the current year because the pipeline includes many metals companies that are not in demand because of the global slump in prices. So far, the government has managed to raise a little over Rs 12,000 crore from asset sales.The interest equalisation scheme for exports provides for a 3 per cent subsidy on pre- and post-shipment credit to exports. This will be available with effect from April 1, 2015, and will run for five years.It will be reviewed after three years. "The scheme would be available to all exports of MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) and 416 tariff lines. Scheme would not be available to merchant exporters," the government said. The scheme will cover most labour-intensive and employment-generating sectors.India’s exports declined for the 11th month in a row in October, falling 17.5 per cent. Exports were down 17.6 per cent in dollar terms in the April-October period. The scheme is likely to cost Rs 2,500-2,700 crore.The Cabinet authorised NHAI to push forward the toll concession period for stalled projects being executed under the build-operate-transfer mechanism and where the delay is not the developer’s fault. The relief will be available subject to some conditions, including completion within three years. The total tenure of the toll will remain same."We’ll extend the concession agreements of investors in case the delay in project is not on their part. Banks would be taken on board and we’ll try to get funds released for projects," NHAI Chairman Raghav Chandra told ET.CCEA also approved segregating the cost of construction from that of land acquisition and pre-construction activity to speed up the approval process of national highway projects. All projects with a civil construction cost of up to Rs 1,000 crore will be cleared by the ministry. Projects above this threshold will have to be cleared eventually by the finance ministry and CCEA.Under the earlier policy, the cost of projects executed through the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode included the cost of land acquisition, which raised the acquisition cost and meant CCEA needed to be approached."By adopting the policy, the avoidable delays in the process of appraisal and approval of NH (national highway) projects will be suitably addressed. Speedy appraisal and approval will help in meeting the award target of 10,000 km set for this year," the government said in a statement.The Cabinet authorised NHAI to push forward the toll concession period for stalled projects being executed under the build-operate-transfer mechanism and where the delay is not the developer’s fault. The relief will be available subject to some conditions, including completion within three years. The total tenure of the toll will remain same. "We’ll extend the concession agreements of investors in case the delay in project is not on their part. Banks would be taken on board and we’ll try to get funds released for projects," NHAI Chairman Raghav Chandra told ET. CCEA also approved segregating the cost of construction from that of land acquisition and pre-construction activity to speed up the approval process of national highway projects. All projects with a civil construction cost of up to Rs 1,000 crore will be cleared by the ministry. Projects above this threshold will have to be cleared eventually by the finance ministry and CCEA. Under the earlier policy, the cost of projects executed through the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode included the cost of land acquisition, which raised the acquisition cost and meant CCEA needed to be approached. "By adopting the policy, the avoidable delays in the process of appraisal and approval of NH (national highway) projects will be suitably addressed. Speedy appraisal and approval will help in meeting the award target of 10,000 km set for this year," the government said in a statement