At the media briefing on key decisions by the Union Cabinet, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed of the approval to give 78 days' of wages as bonus for Railway employees. It will lead to the outgo of over Rs 2,000 crore. The production, export, import and distribution of e-cigarettes was also decided to be banned by the cabinet.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar was also present at the briefing. He said that the government will be spending Rs 2,024 crore on this exercise, and 11.52 lakh employees will benefit from this exercise. He further said that it was a reward for productivity.

It is the sixth consecutive year that a productivity linked bonus has been granted to railway employees.