State - March 20, 2025

Hon’ble Rural Development Minister’s speech in the Budget session of OLA for the year 2025-26

team maverick March 20, 2025

0 29 min read

Rural development implies both the economic betterment of people as well as greater social transformation. Rural Development Department has the mandate to provide good road connectivity and building infrastructure to the rural areas of the State thereby bringing the transformation of rural infrastructure in the State. The Department is responsible for construction and maintenance of rural roads, bridges and Govt. buildings in rural areas.

In the current financial year 2024-25, by the end of February, this Department has completed the construction of 3470.37 km of roads, 164 bridges, and 273 buildings. Additionally, the construction of 7429.08 km of roads, 1098 bridges, and 2631 buildings is under progress.

A budget provision of Rs. 7729.52 Crore under Programme Expenditure and Rs. 2290.10 Crore under Administrative Expenditure is proposed during the year 2025-26.

The achievements during previous years and proposed policy during 2025-26 under various major schemes are presented below:

PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janajati Naya Maha Abhiyan):

Keeping in view of the connectivity of villages having population more than 100 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), the Govt. of India under the PM JANMAN scheme approved ₹149.74 crore in the first phase for the construction of 40 roads and 2 bridges to connect 46 villages. Additionally, a proposal has been submitted to Govt. of India for approval of the construction of 26 roads and 2 bridges to connect 27 villages.

Apart from this, joint verification work by the SC & ST Department and the Rural Development Department is underway for the connectivity of 263 villages.

During the year 2025-26, a budget provision of Rs.100 Cr. has been proposed for PM-JANMAN works.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY):

PMGSY-I programme was implemented from the year 2000-01 onwards in all the districts of Odisha to provide connectivity to unconnected habitations. But in PMGSY-II & PMGSY-III consolidation of the existing Rural Road Network by up-gradation of existing Through Routes and Major Rural Links that connect habitations with Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher secondary schools, Hospitals & Transport infrastructures has been implemented in the State. Since inception of the scheme from 2000-01 till Feb.’2025, 17499 Nos. of roads of 70382.64 Km. length and 624 Nos. of Long Span Bridges have been constructed with an expenditure of Rs. 32852.28 Cr. As a result 16991 Nos. of unconnected habitations have been connected with all-weather roads and better road network has been provided to the facilities available in the Rural areas of the State.

During the year 2024-25, as on Feb.’2025 the state has completed a length of 612.46 Km. of roads and 26 no. of bridges by utilising an amount of Rs.627.15 Cr. under PMGSY-I, II & III.

The Government of India has approved the fourth phase of the PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana), which will soon be implemented across all states. Under this phase, based on the 2011 Census, the plan aims to connect unconnected villages (habitations) meeting the following criteria:

Villages with a population of 500+ in plain areas
Villages with a population of 250+ tribal (Scheduled-V) areas
Villages with a population of 100+ in Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts (as notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs)

To facilitate this, the Central Government has introduced a mobile application called the “Gram Sadak Survey App”, which is being used to survey unconnected villages and map roads under the District Rural Roads Plan (DRRP). After completing this survey, eligible unconnected habitations will be linked according to scheme guidelines.

For the financial year 2025-26, the state is expected to receive approval for 1,000 Km of roads. The funding for this initiative will be shared between the Central Government (60%) and the State Government (40%).

During the year 2025-26, a budget provision of Rs.1600.02 Cr. has been proposed for PMGSY works.

Constituency wise allocation (CWA):

The said scheme aims to construct/ improve RD roads under 142 no of Assembly Constituencies in rural area of the State.

This scheme was not operational since the 2020-21 financial year. However, in the current financial year, a budgetary provision of ₹142.00 crore has been made to restart its implementation. In previous years prior to 2020-21, a budgetary allocation of ₹28.40 crore was there under this scheme.

For the financial year 2025-26, budget provision of Rs.142.00 Cr. has been proposed to meet the requirement of funds for construction/ improvement of new road projects.

MUKHYA MANTRI SADAK YOJANA (MMSY):

MMSY is a State funded rural connectivity flagship programme launched in the year 2014-15 in order to provide all weather connectivity to unconnected habitations including missing links. Thereafter, under the said scheme, the up-gradation and widening of existing RD roads & roads transferred from PR & DW Deptt. have also been executed from the year 2021-22.

Since inspection of the scheme (2014-15) till March’2024, 1275 no of roads (5784.58 KM) have been constructed with an expenditure of Rs.3693.61Cr.

For the current financial year 2024-25, there is a budget provision of Rs.225.00 Cr (Rs.200.00 Cr under MMSY-RIDF and Rs.25.00 Cr. under MMSY-Non RIDF) out of which an expenditure of Rs.134.21 Cr has been incurred and 227.67 Km length of road has been constructed till end of February 2025 out of the target length of 628.38 km.

For the financial year 2025-26, Rs.209.94 Cr. has been proposed in the budget for construction of spilled over roads.

MMSY-Improvement of existing R.D. roads:

The said scheme aims is to improve important rural roads requiring immediate attention.

Under this scheme:

Roads connecting blocks to district headquarters will be widened to 7.0 meters.
Roads connecting Gram Panchayats to block headquarters will be widened to 5.5 meters.

For the current financial year 2024-25, there is a budget provision of Rs.350.00 Cr out of which an expenditure of Rs.175.96 Cr has been incurred and 226.14 Km length of road has been constructed till end of February 2025 out of the target length of 325.28 Km.

Further 500 nos (2535.18 km) of road projects have been approved by the Govt. to take up under the scheme during the current financial year 2024-25.

For the financial year 2025-26, Rs.1100.00 Cr. (MMSY- Improvement to Existing RD Roads-Rs.100.00 Cr and Public Works (SASCE)- Rs.1000.00 ) has been proposed in the budget for construction of spilled over road projects and to take up new roads.

MMSY-Transferred Road Improvement Programme (TRIP):

The scheme aims to construct and improve roads transferred from other Govt. Department like P.R. & DW Department/ W.R. Department to books of R.D. Department.

Since implementation of the scheme during the year 2021-22 till 2023-24, 97 no of roads (429.04 km) have been constructed with an expenditure of Rs.553.38 Cr.

For the current financial year 2024-25, there is a budget provision of Rs.1999.00 Cr out of which an expenditure of Rs.1225.26 Cr has been incurred and 573.97 Km length of road has been constructed till end of February 2025 out of the target length of 656.68 km.

Further 240 no (1228.32 km) of road projects have been approved by the Govt. to take up under the scheme during the current financial year 2024-25.

For the financial year 2025-26, Rs.1450.00 Cr. has been proposed in the budget for construction of spilled over road projects and to take up new roads.

MMSY-Connecting Unconnected Villages in Difficult Areas (CUVDA):

This scheme envisages all weather road connectivity to unconnected habitations in most difficult areas in LWE districts of the State. The scheme was earlier implemented under the name “Connecting Unconnected Villages”.

During the year 2019-20, 131 nos. of projects (784.31 km) have been taken up out of which 45 nos. of projects (129.65 km) have been completed with an expenditure of Rs.300.40 Cr. till end of 2023-24. Further 21 nos. of roads (146.16 km) have been taken up during the year 2023-24 totalling to 152 nos. of roads (871.38 km) till date.

For the current financial year 2024-25, there is a budget provision of Rs.150.00 Cr. out of which an expenditure of Rs.132.08 Cr has been incurred and 124.61 Km length of road has been constructed till end of February 2025 out of the target length of 322.03 km.

Further 57 no (401.21 km) of road projects have been approved by the Govt. to take up under the scheme during the current financial year 2024-25.

For the financial year 2025-26, Rs.188.00 Cr has been proposed in the budget for construction of spilled over road projects and to take up new roads

MMSY-Connection of Missing Road Links (CMRL):

This scheme envisages to bridge the Inter State Inter District & Inter Block Connectivity gaps & to take care of missing link between State, District & Blocks. Earlier the scheme was implemented under the name Inter District Inter Block Connectivity.

Since implementation during the year 2020-21, 400 nos of projects (1649.81 km.) have been taken up out of which 106 nos of projects (407.18 km.) have been completed with an expenditure of Rs.377.61 Cr. till end of 2023-24.

For the current financial year 2024-25, there is a budget provision of Rs.470.00 Cr out of which an expenditure of Rs.348.92 Cr has been incurred and 295.68 Km length of road has been constructed till end of February 2025 out of the target length of 545.76 Km.

Further 113 no (422.10 km) of road projects have been approved by the Govt. to take up under the scheme during the current financial year 2024-25.

For the financial year 2025-26, Rs.452.00 Cr. has been proposed in the budget for construction of spilled over road projects and to take up new roads.

MMSY-Disaster Resilient Road:

The scheme envisages construction of disaster resilient roads which can withstand and quickly recover come hazards due to natural disaster such as cyclone, heavy rainfall & flood etc. in flood/cyclone effected districts of the State.

For the financial year 2025-26, budget provision of Rs.30.00 Cr has been proposed to meet the requirement of funds for construction of new road projects under the scheme.

Setu Bandhana Yojana:

This State scheme of Government of Odisha aims to bridge all the missing-links on roads of RD Department and important Panchayat Raj Department roads so as to provide an effective all-weather road network across the length and breadth of the State & to meet the transportation needs of every sector cost effectively. Since inception of this scheme till date, 2874 bridge projects have been sanctioned, out of which 1580 bridges have been completed.

During last 5 years, 780 bridge projects have been completed. 138 bridges have been completed in the year 2024-25 till end of February’ 2025. Out of these projects, special attention has been given to complete 23 bridge projects that could not be completed in previous years, mainly due to land acquisition issues. Out of the Budget Provision of Rs 2135.00 Crore, an expenditure of Rs 1624.15 Crore has been incurred till end of February’ 2025. There is a proposal to take up 250 new bridge projects during the next financial year.

Budget proposal of Rs.2000.00 Crore has been made during the year 2025-26 to meet the requirement of spill over as well as new bridge projects.

The defect liability period for completed bridge works under this scheme is 2 years. However, it has now been decided to extend it to 5 years, ensuring that contractors remain accountable for any defective work during this period.

Further, a routine maintenance system for bridges will be implemented for 5 years after their construction.

Bridge-cum-Weir:

R.D. Department has taken up Bridge-cum-weir projects across the state primarily on small to medium bridges with an aim to store adequate quantity of water during Monsoon inside the water streams for the purpose of minor irrigation, domestic use, livestock feeding, Ground water recharging & creating Green Environment and livelihood of the local people by pisciculture & to control soil erosion & reduction of atmospheric temperature etc.

Since inception of this scheme during 2021-22 up to 2023-24, 118 nos. of bridge-cum-weir projects have been taken up, out of which 64 nos have been completed till end of February’ 2025. 33 projects have been completed in the year 2024-25 till end of February’ 2025. Out of the Budget Provision of Rs 63.00 Crore, an expenditure of Rs 38.46 Crore has been incurred out till end of February’ 2025. There is a proposal to take up 100 new bridge-cum-weir projects during the next financial year.

Budget proposal of Rs.55.50 Crore has been made during the year 2025-26 to meet the requirement of spill over as well as new projects.

MAINTENANCE OF RD ROADS:

Along with new construction of rural roads, this Department also takes up repair and maintenance of roads in order to prolong the life period of the roads by reducing the rate of deterioration, reduce the cost of vehicle operation and socio-economic benefits of improved road assets.

During 2023-24 a length of 22112.610 km of RD roads have been repaired and maintained out of Budgetary allocation of Rs. 810.68 crores.

An amount of Rs 550.00 Crore has been allocated in the Budget for the year 2024-25 under Administrative Expenditure fund (Non Plan) for repair and maintenance of 4930.500 Km length of Rural Road.

An amount of Rs.999.97 Crore has been proposed for budget provision towards repair and maintenance of rural roads under Administrative Expenditure fund (Non Plan) for the year 2025-26.

PMGSY Routine Maintenance (under DLP) :

Under routine maintenance for the year 2023-24 there was a budgetary provision of Rs.145.27 Cr. for maintenance of 22424 Km. of completed PMGSY road within DLP. Out of that as on 31^st March 2024 the maintenance of 15983 Km roads has been completed utilising an amount of Rs.98.03 Cr.

During routine maintenance for the year 2024-25 there is a budgetary provision of Rs.160.00 Cr. for maintenance of 19144.00 Km of completed PMGSY road within DLP. Out of that as on 11.03.2025 the maintenance of 6471.06 Km roads has been completed utilising an amount of Rs.54.09 Cr.

For the financial Year 2025-26, a budgetary provision of Rs.150 Cr. has been proposed.

PMGSY Periodical Maintenance (post DLP) :

Under Periodical maintenance for the year 2023-24 there was a budgetary provision of Rs.635.64 Cr (494.56 + 141.08) Cr which includes state budget for periodical maintenance and central incentive for maintenance of 4492.91 Km. of 5 year completed PMGSY Roads (POST-DLP). Out of that as on 31^st March 2024 the periodical maintenance of 3068.23 Km roads has been completed utilising an amount of Rs.445.60 Cr.

During Periodical maintenance for the year 2024-25 there is a budgetary provision of Rs.776.03 Cr (500.00 + 276.03) Cr which includes state budget for periodical maintenance and central incentive for maintenance of 3724.524 Km of 5 year completed PMGSY Roads (POST-DLP). Out of that as on 11.03.2025 the periodical maintenance of 679.98 Km roads has been completed utilising an amount of Rs.127.37 Cr.

For the financial Year 2025-26, a budgetary provision of Rs.555.00 Cr. State allotment has been proposed.

BUILDINGS:

For the improvement of the social and economic conditions of rural people, the construction of 273 buildings under RD Department & other departments have been completed in the current financial year. Details as follows:

Rural Development Department – Office and residential buildings: 60
Revenue Department – Tehsil, RI offices, and residential buildings: 82
Health & Family Welfare Department – Sub-centres, PHCs, Ayurvedic/Homeopathy dispensaries: 76
School & Mass Education Department

Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya: 2

Upgraded High School: 1

100-bed girls’ hostel: 2

Odisha State Disaster Management Authority – Cyclone and flood shelters: 13
Higher Education Department (OHEPEE) – College buildings: 10
Excise Department – Charge offices: 6
Finance Department – Sub-treasury office/quarters: 2
Judiciary Department – JMFC court/quarters: 7
Multipurpose halls: 12

Budget provision of Rs. 92.50 crore under Programme Expenditure (R.D. Department buildings) has been proposed in the financial year 2025-26.

Targets for Completion in the Financial Year 2025-26 through Various Schemes:

Road Construction – 5,200 km
Bridge Construction – 200 projects
Bridges -cum-Weir – 40 projects
Building Construction – 300 buildings

The Rural Development Department’s budget for the financial year 2025-26 will undoubtedly accelerate Odisha’s rural development. I firmly believe that this budget will play a crucial role in fulfilling the expectations and trust that the people of the state have placed in us.

The Rural Development Department is making every possible effort to achieve this goal.

From this sacred House of the Legislative Assembly, I inform the people of Odisha about this commitment and propose the approval of a total budgetary allocation of ₹10,019.62 crore for the Rural Development Department for the financial year 2025-26.