NEW DELHI: As the country celebrates Holi, the Cabinet splashed out on a series of decisions involving about Rs 1 lakh crore, the lion’s share of it for building homes in rural areas and an inflation-linked payout for government employees.Apart from this, the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday also endorsed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates for a longterm, $75-billion investment in India’s infrastructure sector. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) separately approved new rates for key fertilisers that will result in a substantial subsidy saving for the government and doubling of two railway lines in eastern India to augment coal capacity.Under the Rs 82,000-crore rural housing scheme, the government will provide Rs 1.2 lakh assistance in the plains and Rs 1.3 lakh in the hilly states for pucca, permanent structures, raising the prospect of a boost to construction activity in stressed rural India. The aim of the scheme is to build 1 crore homes in the next three years.The National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (Nabard) will provide nearly Rs 22,000 crore in support that will be repaid only after 2022. A National Technical Support Agency will be set up to provide assistance and ensure delivery.The cost of the scheme will be shared between the Centre and the states in a 60:40 ratio in the plains and 90:10 in the hills. The Cabinet approved 6% dearness allowance and dearness relief for central government employees and pensioners, boosting their income by more than Rs 15,000 crore in the next 14 months. Together with the Seventh Central Pay Commission award, this should provide a boost to urban consumption stemming from the rise in disposable income, experts said.The Cabinet also approved World Bank support of Rs 9,000 crore for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin). India and the UAE had signed a memorandum of understanding last month for a $75-billion long-term investment in the National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). This had been set up by the government to mobilise finances for infrastructure.The government will hold 49% of the fund to give it a private character and is looking for sovereign wealth funds and pension funds to pick up the rest of the stake. NIIF, a Category-II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), will invest in both greenfield and brownfield projects, providing long-term equity support. It will also try and revive stalled projects and have a stressed assets fund in its portfolio.It will “support investment in India’s plans for rapid expansion of nextgeneration infrastructure, especially in railways, ports, roads, airports and industrial corridors and parks”, Minister of Communications & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said, briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting. The nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) rates for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers for the year 2016-17 factor in the declining trend in international prices of finished fertilisers and raw materials.“At the same level of consumption of P&K fertilisers (about 310.44 LMT) during 2016-17 as in 2015-16, the total subsidy implication on P&K fertilisers for 2016-17 at proposed rates works out to be about Rs 21,274 crore,” the government said in a statement. That would translate into a saving of Rs 5,000-6,000 crore. The Cabinet also approved the construction of a world-class convention-cum-exhibition centre in the national capital.