New Delhi, Nov. 4 -- The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved a package of schemes with a combined outlay of Rs.25,473 crore to boost renewable energy storage, strengthen critical mineral supply chains, expedite trials in sexual offence cases and modernize the statistical ecosystem.

The cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved a two-year extension of the 'Second Tour of Duty' for Agniveers recruited under the Agnipath scheme, a short-term military recruitment model.

The cabinet approved a viability gap funding (VGF) scheme with an outlay of Rs.14,500 crore for grid-scale energy storage systems over FY27-FY31. The scheme aims to add 92 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of storage capacity to help integrate large-scale renewable ...