Bhubaneswar, Aug. 13: The Odisha government will spend Rs 1,500 crore within five years to provide a foolproof and efficient power system in the city and its nearby areas.

The state cabinet, presided by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, this evening approved the proposal to this effect. The project, named State Capital Region Improvement of Power System, will benefit about 30 lakh people in Bhubaneswar, said Odisha chief secretary G.C. Pati.

The cabinet also approved to another 33 proposals related to various sectors, including change of nomenclature of the information technology department as "electronics and information technology department" and the employment and technical education and training department as "skill development and technical education department".

The power project envisages renovation, modernisation and expansion of the existing transmission and distribution infrastructure with an aim to ensure 24x7 uninterrupted, reliable and stable power supply to consumers, including the public services covered under the comprehensive development plan for Bhubaneswar and Cuttack urban complex.

The state-owned Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited will implement the project in five years. A consultant for the preparation of transmission and distribution master plan and the detailed project report has been selected in an open bidding process.

The cabinet also gave its nod to the proposal to set up an exclusive Industrial Infrastructure Development Fund with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore to develop quality infrastructure such as roads, power, water and waste management. Capital grants will also be provided to industrial parks promoted by the private sector or industry associations to develop external infrastructure.

The Odisha government also decided to formulate a special incentive package scheme to attract investments in electronics system design and manufacturing sector to the state by giving additional incentives on capital investment subsidy, entry tax, power incentives, interest subsidy and other facilities. The industrial houses coming to set up the electronics industry will be given subsidy up to Rs 50 crore. "If the companies recruit Odia people, the state government will bear the cost towards employees state insurance and employees provident fund subject to a maximum of Rs 2 crore per year for two years," said IT secretary P.K. Jena.

It also approved to the "policy for housing for all in urban areas" for providing affordable houses. In order to implement the policy, the Odisha government has decided to constitute an Odisha Housing Mission.

The cabinet also approved an amendment to tourism policy empowering the state tourism secretary to clear a project to the tune of Rs 50 crore.

Besides, it approved a number of policies regarding recruitment rules.

For the first time, the Odisha government decided to set up a data policy. "An Odisha Spatial Data Infrastructure will be created by the Odisha Remote Sensing Application Centre in financial support from the science and technology department," an official said.