Bhubaneswar, Jan. 19: Residents can now get a driving licence in minutes with the transport department deciding to set up the state's first automated driving testing centre as well as a vehicle inspection and certification unit here shortly.

The automated centres would have facilities to train drivers, issue them licences in a short while and also the facilities to check the fitness and certify vehicles. Each centre would come up on one acre - for which the process of land identification is on.

A person can visit the centre with the vehicle, ride or drive it at the place - and the automated systems installed there would analyse the data and decide whether the applicant is eligible to get a licence. Once the system approves it, the licence would be issued in about 40 minutes.

The automated vehicle inspection and certification centre will also function in a similar manner to check the fitness of the vehicles and certify them. At present, the fitness test of vehicles and the task of issuing licences to the applicants are done manually.

"We have decided to introduce the automated vehicle inspection and certification centre, along with the automated driving testing centre, in the state. We will introduce six such centres in various parts of the state - one of which will come up in Bhubaneswar," said transport commissioner Chandra Sekhar Kumar.

He further said that to safeguard the citizens on the roads, his department officials would expedite the identification process of blind spots in the city. "Any spot that had witnessed more than 10 accidents in the past three years would be designated as a blind spot. Khandagiri Square comes in that category - for which steps have already been initiated to ensure the safety of drivers," said Kumar.

Kumar was taking part in a deliberation on "Smart Infra Odisha" organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce. The deliberations also focused on the development of railways, ports and airways with smart solution in the state.

The decision of introducing automated driving testing centre comes as a relief to the people, who found the current manual process tiresome. "It takes nearly one month for us to get a driving licence in the present system. It is a good initiative by the state government to introduce the automated system," said Utkal University student Prayag Mishra.

Notably, such automated driving testing and training centres are already functioning in other states such as Kerala, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.