The Union government has approved the Urban Flood Risk Management Programme Phase I for seven cities, with a total outlay of Rs 3,075.65 crore, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha.
The seven cities are Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Chennai. The government has also approved the Urban Flood Risk Management Programme Phase II for 11 cities, with a total outlay of Rs 2,444.42 crore. These are Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kanpur, Patna, Raipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam, Indore and Lucknow, he stated.
The Union government has not fixed any specific target for the number of electric vehicles (EV) on the road by 2047, Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma told the Lok Sabha.
However, it is promoting electric vehicle adoption through several schemes. These include the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Scheme Phase II, with an outlay of Rs 11,500 crore; the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Automobile and Auto Components, with an outlay of Rs 25,938 crore; the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage, with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore; the Prime Minister Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement Scheme, with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore; the Prime Minister e-Bus Sewa Payment Security Mechanism Scheme, with an outlay of Rs 3,435.33 crore; and the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India, he said.
Several states, including Telangana, have also notified dedicated electric vehicle policies to complement these initiatives. The schemes of the Ministry of Heavy Industries are demand-driven and no state-wise allocation of funds is made, he stated.
Women constituted 59.8 per cent of the total workforce engaged in agricultural activities in 2025, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ramnath Thakur told the Lok Sabha.
The data is from the Periodic Labour Force Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. During the same period, 41.1 per cent of women workers in agriculture were engaged in the self-employed category.
India’s gross cropped area increased from 198.28 million hectares in 2014-15 to 225.19 million hectares in 2024-25, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ramnath Thakur told the Lok Sabha.
According to Land Use Statistics 2024-25, cropping intensity also rose from 142.2 per cent in 2014-15 to 159.7 per cent in 2024-25, reflecting a shift towards multiple cropping practices. Foodgrain production increased from 252.02 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 376.56 million tonnes in 2025-26, according to advance estimates. Horticulture production rose from 280.98 million tonnes to 377.77 million tonnes over the same period.
The dominant thrips species recorded in chilli-growing areas of Raichur in Karnataka during a 2021 survey was Thrips parvispinus, Thakur told the Lok Sabha.
The survey was conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, along with other Indian Council of Agricultural Research institutes and state agricultural universities. Thrips parvispinus accounted for 94-96 per cent of the total thrips population, followed by Thrips hawaiiensis at 3 per cent, Thrips florum at 1 per cent and Thrips palmi at less than 1 per cent, he stated.
Based on the findings, remedial measures, including a management schedule for controlling thrips in chilli, were recommended. The current chilli crop is largely at the nursery stage and no major incidence of black thrips or other emerging pests has been reported so far this season in Raichur district.
The Government of India has launched the Clean Plant Programme with an outlay of Rs 1,765.67 crore under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan told the Lok Sabha.
Under the programme, nucleus and mother stocks of clonally propagated fruit crops, including grapes, pome fruits, citrus, pomegranate, berries, guava, mango, avocado, litchi and dragon fruit, will be developed and maintained at Clean Plant Centres. These centres will be hosted in crop-specific institutions of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, he stated.
The centres will conduct diagnostic testing, improve testing techniques and methods, and maintain and distribute clean planting material to certified nurseries. Disease-free mother plants will serve as the authenticated source of planting material for accredited nurseries to produce virus-tested certified planting material. The programme covers all major clonally propagated fruit crops grown across the country, including those cultivated in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, Chouhan added.
A total of 39,72,447 rooftop solar systems have been installed under the Prime Minister Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana since its launch in February 2024, Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy and Power Shripad Yesso Naik told the Rajya Sabha.
The scheme is demand-driven and is available to residential consumers across the country, including rural households, that have a grid-connected electricity connection with the local distribution company. Consumers can apply through the scheme’s national portal. As of July 22, 2026, the installed systems had benefited 48,02,717 households across the country.