New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a series of key decisions aimed at ensuring speedy justice in cases of atrocities against women and children, strengthening India’s green energy infrastructure and promoting domestic processing of critical minerals, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced.
Briefing reporters on the Cabinet decisions, Vaishnaw said the government had approved the extension and strengthening of 850 fast-track special courts across the country to address cases of child abuse and rape.
“The Cabinet has approved the strengthening and extension of 850 fast-track courts, specifically to address cases of child abuse and rape. It is our government’s firm commitment that whenever such vulnerabilities or issues arise in society—whether they involve atrocities against women or threats to the well-being of the next generation—we will take decisive action,” Vaishnaw said.
Highlighting the Centre’s zero-tolerance approach towards crimes against women and children, he said the government would focus on fully utilising existing laws, introducing new legislation wherever necessary and ensuring more effective implementation.
He added that extending and strengthening the 850 fast-track courts was part of the ongoing effort to deliver swifter justice.
In another major step towards energy transition and grid stability, the Cabinet approved grid-scale energy storage projects with a cumulative capacity of 92 gigawatt-hours (GWh).
“Today, approval has been granted for energy storage schemes with a total capacity of 92 gigawatt-hours (GWh). This will be a grid-scale energy storage scheme. Of this 92 GWh, 30 GWh will be dedicated to battery storage, and 60 GWh to pumped-hydro storage,” Vaishnaw said.
He added that the scheme would be implemented in collaboration with state governments and distributed across the country.
The Cabinet also approved a scheme for processing critical minerals as part of India’s efforts to strengthen self-reliance in high-tech manufacturing.
Vaishnaw said the initiative would prepare raw critical minerals obtained through mining or recycling for manufacturing processes.
The scheme will cover all 24 identified critical minerals, including those sourced from mines and recovered through recycling.
“This will provide a massive boost to our manufacturing sector—encompassing electronics, semiconductors, batteries, defense, heavy equipment, and machinery—all of which rely on critical minerals,” Vaishnaw added.
