NEW DELHI: The government has approved Rs 12,178 crore worth of infrastructure projects and an AIIMS in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,351crore.The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday cleared the project for constructing a 14.1km long two-lane tunnel at Zojila pass providing all weather connectivity to Srinagar, Kargil and Leh in Jammu and Kashmir at the cost of Rs 6,808 crore, including the cost of land acquisition, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said.Zojila is situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on Srinagar-Kargil Leh National Highway which remains closed during winters (December to April) due to heavy snowfall and avalanches cutting off Ladakh.“As per my information, it will be the longest all-weather tunnel in Asia and among the highest passes in the world which is strategically very important for India as Kargil is a vulnerable sector given the history of infiltration from Pakistani side,” the minister said. “Traveling through this stretch currently takes three hours. Once operational, the tunnel will reduce the travel time to 15 minutes,” he said.The tunnel is being constructed on government-funded engineering procurement and construction model and will be operational in seven years. The government is also building a parallel single lane escape tunnel. IL&FS has placed the lowest bid of Rs 4,899 crore for the construction of the tunnel.“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will do the ‘bhoomi pujan’ of the project once weather clears up in the region,” Gadkari said. The CCEA also cleared Rs 5,369-crore Jal Vikas Marg Project (JVMP) for enhanced navigation on the Haldia-Varanasi stretch of National Waterway-1 on Ganga.The project falls in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The project is expected to be completed by March 2023 and will provide an alternative mode of transportation that will be environmentally friendly and cost-effective. It will contribute in bringing down the logistics cost in the country. The project is being funded by the World Bank, Gadkari said.“NW-1 development and operations will lead to direct employment generation to the tune of 46,000 and indirect employment of 84,000 will be generated by vessel construction industry. There will be two multi modal hubs in Varanasi and Haldia,” he said.The cabinet also approved the amendments to the model concession agreement to make port projects more investor-friendly. The developers will now be allowed to exit the project after two years of commencement of operations, Gadkari said.Proposal to build AIIMS in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh at a cost of Rs 1,351 crore was also cleared by the cabinet. The 750-bed hospital will be constructed within 48 months.A committee headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley with representation from the law and shipping ministries has been formed to resolve stuck PPP projects worth Rs 20,000 crore in the ports sector, transport minister Nitin Gadkari said. He did not mention the name of the stuck projects but said around 12 PPP projects were stuck in 12 government-owned major ports.The Union Cabinet also gave expost facto approval to the stand adopted by India at the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization held in Argentina last month. “The mandate exercised and approach adopted at the conference was aimed at protecting India’s interests, priorities and concerns,” the government said in an official statement.The 11th ministerial conference of the WTO took place in Buenos Aires from December 10 to 13 but collapsed after the US reneged on its commitment to give a permanent solution to the food stockpiling issues of developing countries.“India did not support the draft Ministerial Declaration as it excluded or failed to adequately cover important issues such as multilateralism, the Doha Development Agenda and special and differential treatment of developing countries,” the government said.In fisheries, India was able to push to 2019 the commitment to prohibit certain forms of subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. In ecommerce, India managed to convince other countries to continue with the old work programme that links a two-year continuation of the moratorium on ecommerce with the continuation of one on TRIPS and non-violation complaints.Ministerial decisions on new issues like investment facilitation, MSMEs, gender and trade, which lacked a mandate or consensus, were not taken forward.