Bhubaneswar, Dec. 22: The development authority today initiated the process to execute its first smart housing plan under its ambitious smart city project at Satya Nagar.

The proposed project will have 1,300 affordable houses over 10 acres and executed in public-private-partnership mode. This will be the city's first housing project in the proposed Bhubaneswar Town Centre District, spread over 985 acres between Bapuji Nagar and Satya Nagar.

The Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) has planned four housing projects, one institutional core area, a railway station multi-modal hub and an artificial lake - all part of plans to make the city smart.

This is the third housing project initiated by the development authority following on from two similar projects at Chandrasekharpur, where they will build 2,600 affordable houses. It will also build 1,250 houses under the Nilamadhav Awas Yojana in the same area for the economically weaker sections. These two projects will accommodate an estimated 15,000 people.

"We issued a request for proposal today. We will hold a pre-bid meeting and then float the final tender. The entire process will be completed by February and the selected bidder will get six months to commence the project," said Bhubaneswar Development Authority vice-chairman Krishan Kumar.

The project will be executed under the state government's housing for all scheme and accommodate mainly people from the city's lower middle class. Under the scheme, the developer will get 6.5 acres to construct 1,300 houses while the remainder will go to the developer.

"Many states, including Gujarat and Maharashtra, have already adopted such a mode of development for government housing projects. We were waiting for the government here to adopt a similar method. Proper execution of the plan will not only benefit the lower middle class but also other sections of society," said real estate developer Sangram Nayak.

According to the plan, the developer could use the remainder of land to develop high-end houses or even commercial projects.

"The best part of this policy is that the government will not have to spend any money for the project. The developers will invest the money and could earn it back by using the given land," said a development authority official.

With the initiation of the smart housing scheme, Bhubaneswar has stepped closer to executing another of its planned projects under the smart city mission.

The BSCL has recently hired a Gurgaon-based firm to execute the smart traffic signalling system.