New Delhi, April 18 -- The Union cabinet on Saturday approved a set of decisions spanning welfare support, infrastructure and strategic risk management.

The Cabinet cleared an additional instalment of dearness allowance (DA) for central government employees and dearness relief (DR) for pensioners, raising the rate by 2 percentage points to 60% of basic pay/pension with effect from 1 January 2026, to help offset inflationary pressures, according to an official release. The move will cost the exchequer Rs.6,791.24 crore annually and benefit about 50.46 lakh employees and 68.27 lakh pensioners.

It also approved the creation of a domestic maritime insurance mechanism-the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool (BMI Pool)-backed by a sovereign guaran...