Metro Rail Project To Be Entirely Funded By Odisha Govt, Announces CM Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar: In a gift to the people on Utkal Divas, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announced the much awaited metro train project connecting Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri and Khurda.

Soon after approving the proposal for the ambitious plan, the Chief Minister in an address said the project has been studied by various stake holders and feasibility reports prepared.

In the first phase we will create the metro trunk route from Trisulia near Cuttack to Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.

The route will tentatively touch major landmarks such as Nandankanan, Patia, Vani Vihar, Railway Station and so on, said Naveen.

As the project is starting from near Subash Bose Setu, it will enable  the commuters from CTC  to access important locations in Bbsr. In later phases the metro will expand to Khurda and Puri, he said.

“I have asked Housing and Urban Development Department to complete the DPR on a war footing. The project will be predominantly based on elevated corridors  and will be entirely funded by the state government,” the Chief Minister said.

“We have always strived to push boundaries and improve the lives of our people. And today, with the announcement of this new project, we are taking another step towards a New Odisha to provide best in class metro services for the people of the state,” Naveen said.

Equipped with state-of art facilities, it will not only offer world-class, environment friendly urban transport for an emerging and aspirational Odisha but also spur encomic activities and accelerate expansion of our urban city cluster covering Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri and  Khurda, he said.

The emergence of a modern and planned city cluster will attract people, investments, trade and tourism like never before. This will be a truly transformational project implemented using the principles of 5T, the CM added.

On Saturday morning, a team of officials including Chief Secretary P K Jena, Development Commissioner Anu Garg, Principal Secretary, Commerce & Transport Usha Padhee, Secretary to CM (5T) VK Pandian, and IT Secretary Manoj Mishra had conducted spot visit to chalk out modalities of the proposed project.