By Nageshwar Patnaik in Bhubaneswar, April 13, 2015

The country’s first planned capital city of Bhubaneswar on Monday celebrated its 67th foundation day. It was on this day in 1948 when former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had dedicated the Temple City to the nation.

Designed by the German architect
in 1946 for a population of 50,000, the city’s population has grown by leaps and bounds and now has crossed a million marks. But the planned city once famed for its pleasant climate, is now one of the hottest cities in the country dotted with scores of slums and poor infrastructure.

Aware of the changed scenario, the state government in November 2013 signed a MoU with Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment & Management (GIREM) – a not for profit industry body with a focus on urbanization, future cities and improving quality of life.

The MoU also aimed to showcase the potential of Bhubaneswar and create a favorable image among the investor community, as one of the most preferred business destinations in India.

For the past one decade, the city has been getting a face lift and the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha appears to be in a hurry t modernize, upgrade and expand the crucial road network. But developing a road network of 1400 kilometer is no easy job.

Nevertheless, the state government has identified the major road arteries th are being widened on a war footing. This apart, – drains are being renovated; new state-of-art street Led lighting is being introduced in phases. All office buildings have been painted with soothing colours and over-bridges are being constructed to make the city form traffic congestion.

All these activities are going on under the direct supervision of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who has a penchant for details and quality. In two phases over a period of a decade, the state works department developed a six-lane road from the Biju Patnaik International Airport to Dhamra square and then extended it further to Nandankanan covering about 22 km at a cost of Rs 45 crore.

“We are planning to develop inner and outer ring roads, construct more over bridges keeping the growing traffic and population rise in mind. The face of Bhubaneswar has changed and will keep on changing in the coming years”, says works secretary, Nalini Kanta Pradhan.

The state government realizes the urgency in developing the infrastructure with Bhubaneswar emerging as the hottest business destination. In fact, a study by GIREM found Bhubaneswar overtaking Hyderabad and Gurgaon to emerge as best business destination among the top 21 cities.

Bhubaneshwar ranked 6th position among 21 cities. The city scored a total of 119.84 out of 160 with the highest score for Human Capital with a 14.56.The city has a very good culture and great places for getaways within reach. Bhubaneshwar also leads in its water management.

However, the government faces the major challenge to promote the city by creating a sustainable business eco-systems and social infrastructure through private sector participation.