Bhubaneswar: Odisha has made significant progress across major urban development initiatives over the past three years with many projects taken up under AMRUT 2.0, Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U), PMAY-Urban and newly-introduced livelihood and mobility schemes, according to the data presented recently in the Rajya Sabha by minister of state for housing and urban affairs, Tokhan Sahu, in response to a question raised by BJD Rajya Sabha member Manas Ranjan Mangaraj.According to the reply, 345 projects worth Rs 4,029 crore were approved for Odisha under AMRUT 2.0, covering water supply and waterbody rejuvenation. Out of these, 236 projects are under implementation, while 89 were completed and 20 projects are yet to start.
Under the Smart Cities Mission, the MOS stated that 104 out of 107 projects, achieving 97% completion, were executed in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. Together, the projects account for an investment of Rs 3,426 crore.The state also received funds under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, though disbursal is linked to annual action plans and expenditure milestones. Odisha was allocated Rs 821 crore under SBM-U 2.0 for the mission period, of which Rs 120 crore was released in 2023-24 and Rs 4.75 crore in 2024-25.Construction of houses in urban areas under PMAY-U and PMAY-U 2.0 also moved forward, with 2.24 lakh houses sanctioned, 1.92 lakh houses under construction, and 1.69 lakh completed or delivered across the state.On the livelihood front, the earlier National Urban Livelihood Mission scheme, which concluded on Sept 30, 2024, saw Odisha receive Rs 8.44 crore in 2023-24. It was since replaced by the Deendayal Jan Aajeevika Yojana – Shehari, started from Oct 1, 2024, focusing on six vulnerable worker groups, including construction, transport, gig and domestic workers.A major urban mobility intervention came through PM-eBus Sewa, under which Rs 88.16 crore was sanctioned for five participating cities such as Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela and Sambalpur. So far, the state received Rs 43.96 crore as the first tranche with an additional release of Rs 9.84 crore.“To ensure schemes move on schedule, MoHUA formed monitoring committees at both central and state levels, which are reviewing progress regularly. Field visits, technical handholding, and targeted guidance to ULBs are being carried out to expedite implementation of pending projects,” Sahu said.
