BHUBANESWAR : Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha described the interim budget placed by him in the Assembly on Thursday as growth-oriented and meant for welfare of people.
While priority has been given to strengthen infrastructure to propel the state towards growth, investment worth Rs 21,004 crore has been proposed in the budget for roads, bridges, airports and railways in the 2024-25. The finance minister has proposed Rs 6,194 crore for road development programme and Rs 100 crore for Biju Expressway.
Besides, an amount of Rs 1,000 crore has been earmarked for Bhubaneswar metro rail project in the vote-on-account 2024-25.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had approved the Metro rail project for Bhubaneswar connecting Biju Patnaik International Airport with Trishulia Square in Cuttack in April, 2023. The foundation for the project was laid at Ratagarh near Trishulia on January 1, 2024, by the chief minister. The state government will invest Rs 6,255 crore on the project. The finance minister said the metro rail project is slated to be completed in four years for the people to avail the facility.
Besides, Rs 1,191 crore has been allocated for Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) to facilitate assured and affordable transportation for people across the state. The government has also allocated Rs 700 crore for the development of other railway projects in the state.
The finance minister also announced a provision of Rs 2,000 crore revolving fund for utilisation for paddy procurement operations. Besides, a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore has been announced for Odisha State Cooperatives Marketing Federation Limited for procurement of non-paddy crops.