Plan panel approves Rs 17,250 cr outlay for Odisha

NEW DELHI: The Planning Commission today approved Odisha's Rs 17,250 crore Plan outlay for 2012-13, which is 13.4 per cent higher than the previous fiscal.

The Plan was finalised during a meeting between Commission's Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik.

"Odisha's performance for 11th Five Year Plan has been very good....we agreed on an annual plan of Rs 17,250 crore for the state for this fiscal," Ahluwalia told reporters here after the meeting.

"It is important that there would be an upward revision of royalty in major minerals, which include coal, iron ore, manganese, chromite and and bauxite," Patnaik replied when asked about any thrust area for Odisha during the discussion.

However, Patnaik said that imposition of mineral resources rent tax on iron ore to be charged at 50 per cent of the surplus rent from the iron ore mining companies.

He added that declaring Odisha as a special category state, the state satisfies all the criteria except having an international boundary.

Commenting on the performance of the state during the meeting, Ahluwalia pointed out that focus on human development needs to be continued during the next Plan.

"More intense efforts are needed to improve basic amenities and address the problem of adverse child sex ratio. The public private partnership needs to be further encouraged in both physical and social infrastructure development," he said.

In state Plan 2012-13, priorities have been given to energy (14.75 per cent), irrigation (13.98 per cent), transport (10.94 per cent), education (10.67 per cent) and special area programmes (9.34 per cent).

During the meeting Patnaik pointed out that for faster and balanced socio-economic development, the major focus of the state is to develop critical infrastructure mainly power, road and water and to setup public sector investments in high priority sector such as agriculture, infrastructure and human development.

The Chief Minister said that the revised long term action Plan for the Kalahanid-Balangir-Korput region, which ended in 2011-12, should be extended for another ten years with enhanced funding and the perspective Plan should be approved as expeditiously as possible.