Bhubaneswar, June 6: The state government is planning to make the city Wi-Fi enabled within a year.

It also announced to change the name of the information and technology (IT) department to the department of electronics and IT in order to give a boost to the electronics and IT sectors.

The wireless fidelity service (Wi-Fi) project of the IT department will be executed through the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI).

Initially, the project will be effective in five major Wi-Fi zones covering an area of 10sqkm in the city, and subsequently, the entire city will be covered.

The state government has also decided to set up International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and Electronics and Information Communication Technology Academy in the state. However, the location is yet to be decided for these two upcoming institutes.

The electronic system design and manufacture incubation centre will be set up in Bhubaneswar. The work for the centre will be expedited, sources said.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat.

IT minister Pranab Prakash Das said: "To promote e-governance and electronic system design and manufacturing, the IT department will be christened as the electronics and IT department. The proposal will be placed before the state cabinet shortly."

Under its ambitious project to make IT people friendly, the state government also decided to provide broadband connection to all the panchayats of the state in the next three years.

The IT department also decided that steps would be taken to create job opportunities for nearly 5,000 to 10,000 youths in the rural areas through business process outsourcing.

"The STPI centres will come up in places such as Angul, Samabalpur, Jaypur, Jajpur, Rayagada and Bhawanipatna," an official said, adding that a road map would be created to provide electronics-enabled service delivery in the next three years.

In yet another review meeting, the chief minister stressed on the importance of bringing transparency in the mining sector. All the mining activities will be monitored through satellites.

The Odisha Mining Corporation has been given a target of producing 20 million tonnes of minerals by 2019. The steel and mines department also decided to constitute district mineral funds within one month.

The state government aims to collect Rs 6,600 crore as royalty from various minerals.

However, it is also considering setting up of a new steel directorate in the state.