By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, December 4, 2018: The Odisha government has sanctioned new transmission projects for stable and reliable power supply to the backward areas where presently available voltage is comparatively low.

The Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL) would construct 18 new transmission projects in backward areas, Energy Secretary Hemant Sharma said.

The state government granted the projects at a meeting presided over by Chief Secretary AP Padhi, an official release said.

Padhi directed the energy department to complete the projects before the timeline which was fixed at March, 2022.

The projects would come up in Sambalpur, Bargarh, Dhenkanal, Malkangiri, Keonjhar , Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Sonepur, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrakh and Kandhamal districts.

The estimated cost of these projects vary in the range of Rs 27 crore to Rs 126 crore, Sharma said adding that the total input support against all these projects would be around Rs 250 crore.