Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Saturday unveiled an economic plan for Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri-Paradip Economic Region (BCPPER) and said this initiative would be the state’s laboratory for development and prosperity.
Launching BCPPER, the Chief Minister said that this region will be developed as a centre of economic growth of the state.
“The BCPPER will play an important role in the economic growth of the state as well as the country,” CM Majhi said.
Describing the proposed region as a new star in the growth sky of India, the chief minister said that all the cities of this region have their own potentialities and uniqueness.
While Bhubaneswar is developing in the field of technology, Cuttack is the business centre of the state. Puri is known for its cultural heritage and tourism potential, while Paradip has emerged as a port-based economy.
“Now our plan is that this region will be connected with modern infrastructure, and various projects will be undertaken in each city. More than 80 projects have been planned, such as metal downstream, biotech, textiles, chemicals, tourism, education and IT,” the Chief Minister said.
Noting that NITI Aayog has prepared the economic plan for BCPPER, Majhi said more than 30 policy initiatives will be taken up to bring development and prosperity to the entire region.
The chief minister said that the Union government in its 2026-27 annual budget has earmarked Rs 5,000 for each City Economic Region (CER) in the country.
“The NITI Aayog has already approved our plan and included the BCPPER in the CER initiative,” Majhi said, lauding the impact of “double engine” in Odisha.
The CM noted that at present, the economy of this region (four existing cities) is 19 per cent of the entire Odisha economy. “The target is to make the economy of the region 500 billion dollars by 2047,” the chief minister said.
He said the central government and NITI Aayog will develop this region as a centre of economic transformation.
NITI Aayog member Rajiv Gauba said the BCPPER project is the main pillar of building a developed Odisha. While there are proposals for the development of 20 major cities in the country, BCPPER has been placed among the first five. If this region grows, the people of this region will also develop. The living standards of the people will improve, he said and suggested that the state government implement this region at the earliest.
NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam thanked the state government for its efforts and said that 70 to 80 per cent of our GDP comes from urban areas.
“Our goal is to include more than half of our population in urbanisation by 2047. This is the fifth scheme of NITI Aayog after Mumbai, Surat, Visakhapatnam, and Varanasi,” he said.
Odisha’s Housing and Urban Development minister K C Mohapatra, chief secretary Anu Garg, Housing and Urban Development principal secretary Usha Padhee and other officials attended the programme.
PTI
