The Odisha government approved 15 key proposals including construction of 866 new bridges under Biju Setu Yojana and the tender for improvement of Cuttack ring road to 6-lane standard during the State Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday.
"Considering the necessity of bridges in rural areas for improving communication and thereby socio-economic conditions of the people residing in rural areas, in public interest, the Cabinet approved an extension of Biju Setu Yojana (BSY) up to 2025-26 and decided to take up 866 new bridges in addition to completion of ongoing bridges with an additional outlay of Rs 3,597.22 crore," Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said.
The BSY scheme was launched by the state government in the year 2011-12 with the objective to bridge all the missing links on roads of the Rural Development department.
During 2021-22, the scheme was approved to be implemented for a period of three years from 2021-22 to 2023-24 with an outlay of Rs 5,182.00 crore for execution of 946 bridges (396 ongoing and 550 new).
The state cabinet has also approved the tender for improvement of Cuttack ring road to 6-lane standard from Khannagar to Link Road under State Sector-Road Development Programme. This road project with a length of 2.1 km is expected to provide better connectivity and reduce traffic congestion.
Besides, the Odisha government decided to implement the Central Scheme Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme to improve the quality, reliability of power supply along with reduction of AT & C loss and ACS-ARR gap. The total outlay of the scheme is Rs 6,284 crore which includes state government's share of Rs 2,342 crore.
Under the scheme, there is a provision of Rs 428 crore for smart metering, Rs 4,248 crore for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, Rs 1,509 crore for system strengthening. The projects will be executed in three years and will be completed by 2026.
The Cabinet also approved promulgation of Ordinance for amendment of the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes (OSCBC) Act, 1993 to include 22 castes in the OBC List.
The state government has also enhanced subsidy under the Odisha Electric Vehicle Policy, 2021. This policy was implemented on 1 September 2021. Based on the experience and best practices across the country, it is decided to enhance the subsidy for the purchase of new EVs.
Moreover, the Odisha cabinet extended the sponsorship of Indian Men's & Women's National Hockey Teams for another 10 years.
(With PTI inputs)