India, May 24 -- The Odisha government plans to develop a metropolitan region comprising six urban areas in the state, said Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi at the 10th meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog in New Delhi today.

The proposed metropolitan region, spread over 7,000 sq km, will comprise Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Jatni and Paradip, added the Chief Minister.

According to Majhi, the state government has set a target to raise the urbanization in Odisha to 40 per cent by 2036 and 60 per cent by 2047 from the present level of 17 per cent.

The Chief Minister highlighted the state government's ambitious target to make Odisha a USD 500 billion economy by 2036.

"The people of Odisha aspire to see Odisha's econo...