New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday approved the revamp of the Permanent Account Number system to introduce 'PAN 2.0', along with projects worth ₹22,847 crore in various domains including agriculture, railways, green energy, and education.

The cabinet also approved a proposal to waive bank guarantees that telecom service providers had submitted for spectrum auctions till 2022. The 'in-principle' approval is set to benefit Vodafone Idea the most, along with Bharti Airtel, which was to submit bank guarantees of nearly ₹24,700 crore and had sought a waiver.

PAN 2.0 is expected to cater to demands of businesses, focus on efficient grievance redressal, and provide better cybersecurity. Existing PAN card holders will not need to change anything or apply for new cards, Union minister of information and broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said in his address to the media.

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"There will be a complete upgrade of the PAN system. The focus of the new PAN system will be on grievance redressal using a separate tech-driven grievance redressal system," said Vaishnaw, adding that this policy change is for ease of living for the middle class, and ease of doing business in the country.

The upgraded PAN 2.0 will focus on providing services for business-related activities using a Common Business Identifier, the minister said. This addition is to cater to the industry's demand for a single PAN identifier instead of multiple identity numbers, the minister said, adding that the new PAN cards issued under PAN 2.0 will have a QR code identifier also.

PAN data to be secure

The expenses towards infrastructure of PAN 2.0 will be ₹1,435 crore, as per a government press release. He also clarified that the data of all PAN holders will be protected by the PAN data vault system as well as robust cybersecurity measures.

PAN helps to link all the transactions done by a person with the income tax department whether it is tax payments, credit for taxes deducted or collected at source (TDS/TCS) or the return of income. It is the cornerstone of the tax department’s profiling of assessees.

The ten digit alpha numeric number issued by the department is compulsory for every transaction with the department. It is mandatory for several financial transactions such as opening of bank accounts, deposit of cash in bank account, opening of demat account, transaction of immovable properties and dealing in securities. PAN also serves as a photo identification accepted by all government and non-government institutions in the country.

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“PAN 2.0 is a technological upgrade to India's tax infrastructure. By digitizing and streamlining PAN card services, it provides for greater efficiency and ease of access for taxpayers. This initiative also aligns with the Digital India vision by promoting the use of PAN as a common identifier across government platforms,” said Yeeshu Sehgal, head of Tax Markets at AKM Global, a tax and consulting firm.

The cabinet's announcement on Monday also included a formal introduction of the national mission on natural farming after a successful pilot run, as well as railway infrastructure projects to connect India's northern region of Uttar Pradesh-Bihar to Mumbai and other surrounding ports, and two new hydroelectricity generation projects in Arunachal Pradesh.

For natural farming

The cabinet set aside ₹2,481 crore for the national mission on natural farming after successfully running a pilot project from 2019-2023 to cover 9 lakh hectares. The new mission is set to cover 1 crore farmers to allow them to use sustainable and chemical-free natural farming, minister Vaishnaw said.

The focus of this programme will also be knowledge-creation and resource building using agricultural research institutions, he said. The initiative would also train 30,000 Krishi Sakhis—local volunteers—and providing undergraduate courses on natural farming.

Of the total outlay, ₹1,584 crore will be borne by the Centre, while ₹897 crore will be the share of states, with the scheme running until the end of the 15th Finance Commission period in 2025-26, the minister said. Natural farming practices under the mission aim to reduce input costs, rejuvenate soil health, and build resilience to climate risks such as waterlogging, floods, and droughts. By boosting soil carbon content, water-use efficiency, and biodiversity, the mission will promote sustainable farming while mitigating health risks from exposure to fertilisers and pesticides.

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The CCEA also outlayed ₹3,689 crore towards two hydroelectricity generation projects in Arunachal Pradesh to generate green energy. The two projects—Heo Hydro Electric Project and Tato-1 Hydro Electric Project—will generate 240 megawatt (MW) and 186 MW power, respectively. The Heo Hydro Eelctricity Project will cost ₹1,939 crore, and the Tato-1 Hydro Electricity Project will cost ₹1,750 crore. The Tato-1 project will use tailwater from the Heo project, effectively using the same water twice, Vaishnaw said. Both projects will be executed by state-run North Eastern Electric Power Corp. Ltd (Neepco).

Three railway projects

The CCEA also approved ₹7,927 crore for three railway infrastructure projects in the Purvanchal-Mumbai corridor to benefit the middle class, Vaishnaw said. The three projects are Manmad-Jalgaon 4th line spanning 160km, Bhusawal-Khanwa 3rd and 4th lines spanning 131 km, and Manikpur-Prayagraj 3rd line spanning 84km. These railway lines will benefit the movement of goods towards Mumbai and its surrounding ports and is likely to save ₹8 crore worth of diesel, as per Vaishnaw. The research for these projects employed the PM GatiShakti Portal extensively, Vaishnaw informed the media.

In the expenditure to promote education and innovation among youth, the CCEA approved spending ₹2,750 crore for the Atal Innovation Mission 2.0 and ₹6,000 crore towards securing top global journals for young students under the One Nation One Subscription scheme. The Atal Innovation Mission 2.0 will set up 2,500 new labs in northern and north-eastern frontiers which were previously not connected under the scheme. These will be in addition to the 10,000 labs already set up. Additionally, the second iteration of the scheme will train 5,500 individuals to maintain the innovation ecosystem, said Vaishnaw, adding that the government will also take efforts to procure from startups created under the scheme.

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The One Nation One Subscription scheme will provide researchers access to high quality publications in three stages beginning with government-run higher education institutions and Union government-run research centres, adding other higher education institutions in the later stage, and covering all such institutions across the country in the third stage. The massive ₹6,000 crore outlay came after the government's pilot programme which showed the number of users rising more than 200% and the number of journals available to researchers and students rose 60%.

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