Finance
On Wednesday, the State Cabinet decided to extend the Mission Shakti scheme for another five years, with a budgetary allocation of Rs 4,973.39 crore. Mission Shakti, one of the Naveen Patnaik government’s popular vote bank schemes, will now be extended until the fiscal year 2026-27.
The Odisha government has also decided to return 871 acres of land allotted to Tata Power for the construction of a coal-fired thermal power plant in Cuttack district. On Wednesday, the Odisha cabinet, led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, approved a proposal for this purpose.
According to Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, the cabinet has approved the proposal of Odisha’s land acquisition arm Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development (Idco) to reclaim 871.427 acres of land from Tata Power Co. Ltd. that had previously been leased out for its coal-based thermal power plant at Barang Tahasil in Cuttack district for its land bank.
According to him, the acquired land can be used to attract new industrial and infrastructure projects, which will create a large number of job opportunities in Odisha. According to Mahapatra, the state government has decided to provide Rs 62.83 crore to Idco for this purpose.
Similarly, in all districts, the government has decided to merge District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) with Zilla Parishads (ZPs). It has also decided to spend Rs 4,198.16 crore to install one lakh deep bore wells in five years under the Biju Krushak Vikash Yojana – Deep Bore Well Secha Karyakrama.
In addition, the cabinet approved tenders for the execution of five piped drinking water supply projects totaling Rs 1,081 crore in various rural areas of the state. He added that these projects are expected to be completed within the next two years.
Source:OCN
