The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee gave nod to various infrastructure projects worth Rs 34,000 crore on Wednesday. It includes the Chennai Metro project, Krishnapatnam port project in Andhra Pradesh and many more projects to push demand in infrastructure sector in the midst of recessionary waves across the globe.

CCEA approved foreign direct investment (FDI) worth Rs 957 crore in Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd and 45 km long Phase I of the Chennai Metro project with estimated cost of Rs 14,600 crore.

In addition, the Union Cabinet approved the Delhi Metro Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2009, amending Delhi Metro (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978. According to an official statement, "The requirement to move this Bill arose because without a proper legal framework the construction work of the extension to Gurgaon and Noida can be stalled any time or legally challenged."

CCEA also approved the up gradation project of nine stretches of national highways, under Phase V of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), from four to six lanes at a cost of Rs. 18,238 crore. These stretches includes Delhi-Agra, Krishnagiri-Wallajapet, Vijayawada-Eluru-Rajahmundry, Nellore-Chilkaluripet, Belgaum-Dharwad, Udaipur-Kishagarh, Varanasi-Aurangabad, Bhubaneswar-Jagatpur-Chandhikol and Indore-Dewas, with total road length of 1,409 km.