The state capital is all set to expand after the cabinet on Wednesday approved the demarcation of Patna Metropolitan Area and also the constitution of a Patna Metropolitan Planning Committee (PMPC) to oversee its development.

Cabinet secretariat department principal secretary Brajesh Mehrotra said the decision was taken at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday and the demarcation of the metropolitan area has been based on "Patna planning area" notified by the state urban development and housing department (UDHD), as part of Patna Master Plan 2031.

"The Patna Metropolitan Area will be of 1,167 square kilometre and will incorporate 13 blocks and a total of 581 administrative units within it. These will include six urban administrative units, including Patna Municipal Corporation, municipal councils of Danapur, Khagaul, Phulwarisharif, Maner, and Fatuha Nagar Panchayat and 575 rural administrative units," Brajesh said.

The northern boundary of the PMA will be from Rampur Haldichhapra in Maner block in Patna district to Hardaspur Bigha in Khusrupur village. It will include the low-lying and riverbed areas of the Ganga along this stretch.

Its southern boundary has been demarcated from Nathupur, Mathurampur and Tarwan in Bihta block to Chainpura, Mishrichak, Kharauni in Naubatpur block, Chak Sadullah in Masaurhi block and Qutubpur-Newarchak-Sundarpur in Punpun block, Chakjohra in Dhanarua block and Nandachak, Daulatpur in Fatuha block.

The eastern borders will run from Daulatpur in Fatuha block to Kismiriya in Daniyawan and Hardaspur Bigha in Khusrupur block, while the western boundary will stretch from Nathupur, Koria and Pali in Bihta block to Haldichhapra in Maner block.

The planning and policy making of the development of this huge area will be done by the PMPC, which will be constituted with urban development and housing minister as its chairman and Sanjay Kumar Singh, councillor of ward number 1 of Patna as its deputy chairman.

There will be 30 members in the committee and a few ex-officio members, who would be government servants from various departments concerned.

UDHD principal secretary Chaitanya Prasad, who will be an ex-officio member of the PMPC told The Telegraph: "The deputy chairman will be chosen through election conducted by the State Election Commission among representatives of urban local bodies and panchayats. The state government will not be involved in the process."