PM Modi and President Murmu Launch ₹47,600 Crore Development Projects in Odisha, Including ₹25,016 Crore BCGCL Coal Gasification Plant
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated and laid foundation stones for development projects worth more than ₹47,600 crore in Rairangpur, Mayurbhanj district, Odisha. The projects span energy, industrial infrastructure, roads, drinking water, health, education, tourism and irrigation.
Among the major energy projects, foundation stones were laid for the 600 MW Upper Indravati Pumped Storage Project and the Stage-II expansion of the Ib Thermal Power Station, comprising two 660 MW units. The foundation stone was also laid for the ₹25,016 crore Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Limited (BCGCL) project at Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda district.
Other projects launched include a 300 tonne-per-day municipal solid waste-based compressed biogas plant in Bhubaneswar, a bridge over the Kathajodi river connecting Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, widening of the Dhalpur–Harbhanga road in Boudh district, and four-laning of the Nuapada–Ghatipada section of NH-353. The Kusumdihi mega lift irrigation project and an IGNOU regional centre at Rairangpur were also among the initiatives.
Two railway multi-tracking projects worth more than ₹732 crore were dedicated to the nation: the 19 km Jakhapura–Jajpur Keonjhar Road–Baitarani Road section, part of the Bhadrak–Nergundi multi-tracking project built at ₹323 crore, and the 27 km Hindol Road–Meramandali section, part of the Budhapank–Salegaon multi-tracking project completed at ₹409 crore, intended to ease congestion on the Howrah–Chennai line and improve freight movement of coal, steel and power-sector inputs.
A 300-bed district headquarters hospital building at Boudh, 24 Atal bus stands, nine automated testing stations, the Nayagarh town bypass on NH-57, and the underground pipeline component of the Kusumi Smart Irrigation Project were also inaugurated as part of the package.