Lucknow, Jan 18 (IANS): In good news for tipplers in Uttar Pradesh, they will now be allowed to consume liquor inside model shops.

This comes after an amendment in section 24(a) of the Combined Excise Act of 1910 was cleared by the state cabinet at a meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Wednesday.

The meet was scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed as the Chief Minister was preoccupied with a string of engagements with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was in Agra on a day-long visit.

The cabinet has also ratified a proposal to ban slaughter of animals out in the open and this would now be permissible only inside the legal slaughterhouses.

According to an official spokesman, amendments to the Municipal Corporations Act of 1959 and the Nagar Palika Act of 1916 were put before the state cabinet, under which slaughterhouses will now be located outside the city limits.

Under the new amendment, the Municipal Corporations and Nagar Palikas will now not operate slaughter houses. They will only be regulatory authorities from now on, the official said.

Slaughter of animals outside these abattoirs has also been banned now.

The cabinet also cleared a proposal of Metro Rail projects worth Rs 45,000 crore in three cities -- Agra, Kanpur and Meerut.

According to the proposals, the Agra Metro rail project will have two corridors spanning 30 km and there would be 30 metro stations in all, while the Kanpur Metro project to be built at a cost of Rs 17,000 crore will have two corridors of a total length of 30 km and would have 31 stations along it.

Meerut Metro project will have 33 km length and two corridors with 29 Metro stations costing Rs 13,800 crore. The government has set a target of completing these projects by 2024.

The cabinet also approved a proposal to establish 24 Lok Adalats in 24 more districts. In the first phase, 23 Lok Adalats have already been established.