Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has proposed to raise its plan outlay for the 12th five year plan (2012-17) from Rs one lakh crore to Rs 1,24,373 crore.

The move to increase the outlay followed the recommendation made to this effect by a working group on state's finances, official sources said on Sunday.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has already accorded his approval to the hike proposal which would soon be sent to the Planning Commission for approval, they said.

It is proposed to increase the plan size in view of higher demand from various departments and to achieve higher growth rate, sources said.

The growth rate of Odisha has been more than the national average in recent years, they said adding the state government has accorded added importance to agriculture, irrigation, infrastructure, education, health services, food security and poverty alleviation.

In addition, the focus is also on economic development of people belonging to Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes and human resource development, they said.

Besides a number of self-funded welfare and infrastructure development schemes, the state government needs to make enhanced provisions to match allocations in view of increased central government sponsored programmes, sources added.

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