A crucial cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, took place at the Mahanadi Bhawan, leading to several key resolutions. The council of ministers paid tribute to the bravery of Additional Superintendent of Police Akash Rao Girepunje, who died in an anti-Naxal operation in Sukma district. His wife, Sneha Girepunje, was awarded a compassionate appointment as a Deputy Superintendent of Police within the State Police Service. The officer was martyred in a bomb explosion on June 9, 2025.
The cabinet also gave its nod to amendments in the state’s solar energy policy, aimed at reducing reliance on conventional energy sources while fostering non-conventional energy production. Important outcomes of the meeting are:
* **Policy Timeline:** The revised policy will be effective until 2030, or until the state government introduces a new solar energy policy.
* **Industrial Benefits:** Solar energy projects will now be recognized as priority industries under the state’s industrial policy.
* Numerous benefits will be available to investors, including interest subsidies, capital cost subsidies for micro-industries, GST reimbursements for small, medium, and large industries, electricity duty exemptions, stamp duty exemptions, grants for project report preparation, waivers on land use change fees, reduced fees when acquiring land from land banks, land premium exemptions for entrepreneurs from Scheduled Castes/Tribes, the disabled, senior citizens, and the third gender, grants for employing the disabled, and special packages for mega and ultra-mega projects.
In a separate decision, the cabinet approved the appointment of Rita Shandilya, currently the member and executive chairperson of the Public Service Commission, as the chairperson of the Public Service Commission.
Furthermore, the cabinet decided to double the monthly honorarium for retired media personnel under the Chhattisgarh Senior Media Personnel Honor Fund, raising it from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000, a move that was announced in the 2025-26 budget.
