India, Jan. 29 -- The Orissa high court on Wednesday directed the state government to release Rs.50 lakh subsidy to a poultry entrepreneur whose project was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, observing that the slow progress of work due to lack of adequate manpower after the pandemic was "natural and obvious".

Justice Ananda Chandra Behera allowed poultry entrepreneur Ramesh Chandra Panda's petition and quashed an order by the Agriculture Promotion & Investment Cooperation of Odisha (APICOL) that denied him a subsidy on the grounds of project delay. The government has been told to release the funds within 15 days.

The court held that denying the subsidy on technical grounds would defeat the very purpose of the Mukhyamantri Krushi Udy...