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Bhubaneswar, April 9 (IANS) Senior BJD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra on Thursday wrote to Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, urging him to revive the Bhubaneswar Metro project through a structured collaboration between the Union and the state government, on the lines of Jaipur Metro Phase-2 in Rajasthan.

In a letter to CM on Thursday, Patra mentioned that the Union Cabinet on April 8 approved the Jaipur Metro Phase-2 (41 km; 13,000+ crore) project under the Metro Rail Policy, 2017, through a 50:50 Centre-State SPV, supported by subordinate debt and external financing.

He said this approval sets a clear precedent that large metro projects are being implemented through a structured Centre-State partnership.

Patra further added that the Odisha Metro (Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Khurda-Puri), with an approved cost of Rs 6,255 crore in 2024, is less than half the scale of the Jaipur metro phase 2 project and was originally conceived as a 100% State-funded project.

He also stated that if the Odisha Metro project is implemented under the Jaipur model, the central and state governments would each bear a share of around Rs 3,100 crore, while the remaining cost would be covered through Viability Gap Funding (VGF) or structured financing.

“If Jaipur Metro Phase-2, of more than Rs 13,000 crore, supported by the Union Government, is viable, I am sure Odisha Metro (Puri-Khurda-Bhubaneswar-Cuttack), with half the cost of Jaipur Metro Phase-2, would find viability and policy alignment. As conveyed earlier in my letter to the Hon'ble Union Minister (April 6, 2026), discontinuing the project would undermine a critical mobility and economic backbone for the State,” stated Patra.

He noted that the Odisha Metro along the Puri–Khurda–Bhubaneswar–Cuttack corridor would benefit people in Odisha with safer and faster travel, provide students and youth with better access to education and jobs, and offer senior citizens more comfortable transport, boost tourism improving connectivity to key destinations, support small businesses and drive economic development by reducing congestion and creating new opportunities.

“I again request the Odisha Government, through you, to reconsider the decision to scrap the Odisha Metro project and that Odisha adopt the Jaipur funding model in consultation with the Government of India,” urged Patra.

Notably, the state cabinet led by Mohan Charan Majhi recently resolved to terminate the state government’s agreement with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, thereby finally scrapping the Bhubaneswar Metro rail project. It also decided to transform Bhubaneswar Metro Rail Corporation Limited into a nodal body for planning and implementing sustainable urban mobility initiatives in the state.

--IANS

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