A cabinet meeting was convened today at the Mahanadi Bhawan, Ministry, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai. Several significant decisions were made during the meeting. The council of ministers approved the appointment of Sneha Girepunje, the wife of Additional Superintendent of Police Akash Rao Girepunje, to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police in the State Police Service, in recognition of his martyrdom and valor during an anti-Naxal operation in Sukma district. Akash Rao Girepunje was martyred in a bomb blast on June 9, 2025.
The cabinet also approved a proposal to amend the state’s solar energy policy to reduce dependence on traditional energy sources and promote non-traditional source-based energy production. Other decisions included:
* **Policy Duration:** According to the new arrangement, the amended policy will now remain in effect until 2030, or until the state government issues a new solar energy policy.
* **Benefits for Industries:** Solar energy projects will now be granted the status of priority industries under the state’s industrial policy.
* Under this, investors will receive various concessions and incentives, such as interest subsidies, capital cost subsidies (for micro industries), GST reimbursement (for small, medium, and large industries), electricity duty exemptions, stamp duty exemptions, grants for preparing project reports, exemptions in land use change fees, fee concessions on taking land from the land bank, exemptions in land premium for Scheduled Castes/Tribes, disabled persons, senior citizens, and third gender community entrepreneurs, grants for providing employment to the disabled, and provisions for special packages for mega and ultra-mega projects.
* A significant decision was made in the cabinet meeting to approve the appointment of Rita Shandilya, currently a member and acting chairperson of the Public Service Commission, as the chairperson of the Public Service Commission.
* The cabinet meeting made the important decision to increase the honorarium given to retired media personnel under the Chhattisgarh Senior Media Personnel Honorarium Fund from Rs 10,000 per month to Rs 20,000 per month. This was announced in the budget of 2025-26.
