BHUBANESWAR: From PMAY-Urban Bandhu and Chief Minister’s Smart City Mission to Eight Model Industrial Cities Programme, BCPPER corridor and Swachh Odisha scheme, the state government on Friday unveiled an ambitious budget, packed with new projects and initiatives, to push forward welfare measures and civic infrastructure.
The announcements are being widely seen as a strategic move of the BJP government to address key challenges, accelerate growth and woo urban voters in the run-up to the civic polls, which are due in 2027. The state will invest Rs 10,738 crore for urban development schemes and projects, which is 7.25 per cent more than previous year’s allocation.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced a new Chief Minister Smart City Mission with an outlay of Rs 100 crore. This new initiative targets the comprehensive development of major cities through convergence of urban infrastructure schemes and ensuring provision of basic urban facilities to become liveable.
Under Samruddha Sahara scheme, with an outlay of Rs 320 crore, investment will be made for comprehensive town planning, development of new city and improving infrastructure. The thrust will be on new Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri-Paradeep Economic Region (BCPPER) corridor and key urban clusters of Sambalpur and Berhampur.
Under new initiatives, he said Liveable Cities Mission and Eight Model Industrial Cities Programme will be taken up, covering more than 50 cities.
Majhi stressed that affordable housing is a crucial component of the urban development as reflected in state’s Vision Document of Viksit Odisha for Viksit Bharat. The government will now roll out a new scheme PMAY-Urban Beneficiary Assistance for Nurturing Development of Housing Units (PMAY-Urban Bandhu) with an initial outlay of Rs 120 crore. “To achieve this ambitious target, around 50 acres of land of our state will also be earmarked for development of affordable housing projects under Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) vertical of PMAY-U 2.0 every year,” he said. The overall outlay for housing in the budget this year stood at Rs 5,160 crore.
A Swachha Odisha scheme will also be rolled out with an allocation of Rs 280 crore, while Rs 430 crore will be spent for Swachh Bharat Mission, to fast-track bioremediation of legacy waste, operationalise waste-to-energy plants and modernise solid waste infrastructure. Moreover, Rs 1,161 crore will be spent under Mukhyamantri Sahari Bikash Yojana and Rs 620 crore has been proposed for storm-water drainage and sewerage projects to develop climate-resilient cities. Further, Rs 373 crore has been allocated for urban transport infrastructure and PM e-Bus Sewa from this year. While the urban elections is due in 2027, the state government had issued notifications declaring formation of 24 new notified area councils (NACs) and municipalities on December 31, 2025, where the electoral process is required to be completed within a period of six months.