Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will lay the foundation stone for the much-awaited Phase-I project of the Bhubaneswar Metro rail on January 1, 2024.CM Naveen who reviewed the project on Saturday, also approved the Detailed Project Report (DPR) at a total cost of Rs. 5929 Crore while it is said that the state government will bear the entire expenses. The Metro Rail project will be taken up as a 5T initiative of the state government.For the current year, Rs 210 Crore has been provided in the Supplementary Budget, the Odisha government said in a release. It is pertinent to mention here that Phase-1 of the Metro Rail project will connect Bhubaneswar Airport to Trisulia Square with a total of 20 stations.The entire alignment of the Metro project from Trisulia Square to Bhubaneswar Airport will be on an elevated structure and will run on the median/side of the existing roads, with 20 stations.The stations will cover important places like Nandankanan, KIIT Square, Damana Square, Jaydev Vihar, Vani Vihar, Ram Mandir, Bhubaneswar Railway Station, Bapuji Nagar, Sishu Bhawan and Capital Hospital.The project work will be started soon and target has been set for completion within 48 months