The Odisha government greenlit rural road and bridge infrastructure projects worth Rs 32,067 crore, alongside extending seven infrastructure schemes for another five years to strengthen connectivity, officials said.
These major decisions were taken during a state cabinet session, which approved 13 proposals spanning seven department, including seven key initiatives from the Rural Development Department.
Detailing the outcomes to media post-meeting, Chief Secretary Anu Garg announced that the cabinet has pushed the deadlines for seven active Rural Development Department initiatives till 2030-31 fiscal year.
Among the approvals was the extension of the Setu Bandhan Yojana (SBY) with an outlay of Rs 11,800 crore. Under the initiative, the state plans to build 1,750 new bridges while wrapping up 1,417 ongoing bridge ventures to improve rural connectivity, she explained.
First rolled out in 2011-12, the scheme targets filling critical infrastructural gaps along roadways managed by the Rural Development Department.
Furthermore, the government also extended the Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana (MMSY)-Transferred Roads Improvement Programme (TRIP) up to 2029-30, earmarking Rs 6,700 crore to build and upgrade 25,500 km of rural roads and complete pending works.
In a similar move, the Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana received a timeline extension up to 2030-31, with an outlay of Rs 4,000 crore to lay 4,607.21 km of new roadways and finish 115 km of existing road assignments.
The cabinet also gave the nod to keep the MMSY-Improvement to Existing RD Roads scheme operational until 2029-30, projecting a total cost of Rs 5,750 crore. This project focuses on upgrading 17,500 km of roads that link local hospitals, schools, colleges, marketplaces, tourist hotspots, and commercial centres will be upgraded, Garg said.
Additionally, the government further extended the MMSY-Connecting Missing Road Links project, injecting Rs 1,917 crore to pave 3,850 km of fractured road sections.
It also sanctioned the continuation of the MMSY-Connecting Unconnected Villages in Difficult Areas scheme with a Rs 1,300 crore budget, alongside the Bridge-cum-Weir initiative with an outlay of Rs 600 crore, covering the span from 2026-27 to 2030-31.
Besides infrastructure projects, the cabinet approved the revocation of the outdated Odisha Agricultural Produce Markets Act of 1956, setting the stage for modernised agricultural marketing legislation.
The cabinet also approved the continuation of subsidy under the State Agriculture Policy for another five-year cycle (2026-27 to 2030-31), dedicating an outlay of Rs 2,496.40 crore. The funding is intended to bootstrap 8,500 commercial farming ventures across all 30 districts of the state, Garg stated.
The cabinet green-flagged an irrigation project valued at over Rs 130 crore under the Parbati Giri Mega Lift Irrigation Scheme, which is slated for completion within a three-year timeframe.
