Odisha: CM Naveen Patnaik to lay foundation stone for metro rail on New Year

By Nalini Sahu

BHUBANESWAR, OCT. 7: Come New Year 2024, the denizens of twin city Bhubaneswar and Cuttack will have a reason to cheer. They will see Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laying the foundation stone for the much-awaited Phase I of the Bhubaneswar Metro project on January 1, 2024.

Mr Patnaik, who reviewed the project on Saturday, also approved the Detailed Project Report (DPR) at a total cost of Rs 5,929 crore and the state government will bear the entire expenses.

 The Metro Rail project will be taken up as a 5T initiative of the state government. The term 5T implies team work, technology, transparency, transformation and time limit.

For the current year, Rs 210 crore has been provided in the supplementary budget, the Odisha government said in a release. It is pertinent to mention here that Phase-1 of the Metro Rail project will connect Bhubaneswar Airport to Trisulia Square near Cuttack city with a total of 20 stations.

The entire alignment of the Metro project from Trisulia Square to Bhubaneswar Airport will be on an elevated structure and will run on the median/side of the existing roads, with 20 stations.

The stations will cover important places like Nandankanan, KIIT Square, Damana Square, Jaydev Vihar, Vani Vihar, Ram Mandir, Bhubaneswar Railway Station, Bapuji Nagar, Sishu Bhawan and Capital Hospital.

The project work will be started soon and is targeted for completion within 48 months.