New Delhi: Union Cabinet on October 29 approved the 10th five-year plan recommendations with an outlay of Rs 6,71,009 crore for the states involving gross budgetary support to the tune of Rs 7,06,000 crore.

The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on October 29, gave its nod to the document that was cleared by full Planning Commission earlier this month unveiling a tough six-point reform agenda to push the annual growth from a "stagnant" 5.5 per cent to a high 8 per cent, official sources said.

The three-volume document proposed to carry forward key reforms, particularly in agriculture, to generate 50 million jobs in the next five years besides raising foreign direct investment (FDI) flow to $ 7.5 billion annually and mop up Rs 78,000 crore through disinvestment notwithstanding stiff resistance from within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to privatisation.

The public sector outlay has been pegged at Rs 15,92,30 crore including Rs 9,21,291 crore central plan outlay.

PTI