Bhubaneswar: The state government is making efforts to finish several smart city projects well ahead of the men's hockey world cup to be held here in November.

Several projects such as Smart Janpath, Public Bicycle Sharing Programme, City Operation Centre and Smart Traffic Signalling System have been placed on the fast track. The list, however, doesn't include the common payment card.

Sources said the irony is, this was the project easiest to implement. The common payment card is a project that would make life easier for the people because it could be used for making payments for various utility services.

The project has been delayed by almost six months. The authorities had earlier fixed December 2017 as the deadline for its introduction after selecting the executor of the project in August last year.

After a tendering process, the authorities had selected ICICI Bank for executing the project.

"The common payment card will definitely make things easier for the people. It could be used for making payment of electricity, water, restaurant and hotel bills, among others. It could also be used for shopping," said an official of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL).

BSCL, the special purpose vehicle executing the smart city projects here, also calculated its usage and said in its tender document that once introduced, the ATM-like card would be distributed to about 2.5 lakh people and would witness around three crore transactions a year.

"The authorities have listed huge projects such as Smart Janpath and Bicycle Sharing Programme but have forgotten the ones that would be easier to implement," said social worker Alok Kar.

A senior BSCL official clarified that they had chosen the projects that would benefit the visitors and improve the image of the city.

"It is true the common payment card is among the easiest projects but it would benefit mainly the local residents. It will be introduced shortly," said the official.