Bhubaneswar: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Odisha Assembly, Naveen Patnaik, today expressed his disappointment over the Union Budget 2026.

The Budget has offered no noteworthy benefits to Odisha and its people, claimed Patnaik, a five-time former Chief Minister.  

“The people of Odisha anticipated that the double engine government would offer a growth momentum with focus on infrastructure, job creation and additional allocation which is due to the state. The state has received very little,” stated Patnaik, the president of Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

Patnaik welcomes plan for Rare Earth Corridor in Odisha

However, the LoP welcomed the proposal to establish the Rare Earth Corridor in Odisha. “I welcome the proposal to establish the Rare Earth Corridor in Odisha. Odisha is the leading producer of several key minerals and will always contribute to nation building through its rich resources,” he said.

According to Patnaik, the Centre has announced a proposal to have National Waterways to connect mineral rich areas and industrial centres to the Ports. But, this is a decade old proposal without any progress on the ground, he added.  

Centre ignores Odisha in plan for high-speed rail corridors

The veteran politician alleged that the Centre has ignored Odisha while announcing its plan for seven high-speed rail corridors across the country. “It is a huge disappointment for the people of our state that the announcement to develop seven High-Speed Rail corridors between cities as ‘growth connectors’ does not feature Odisha. The BJP government nipped the Bhubaneswar Metro project earlier and the neglect of people’s needs continues as usual,” Patnaik alleged.

Patnaik further claimed that the Centre did not include any Buddhist site from Odisha in its plan for development of Buddhist circuits in the country.  

Targets Centre over exclusion of Odisha from Buddhist Circuits

“And it’s quite baffling that the tourism centric scheme for development of Buddhist Circuits has completely skipped Odisha despite having several very important Buddhist sites including our Diamond Triangle. As seen from the entirety of the Union Budget, Odisha is getting allocations only for taking its natural resources away and completely ignored when it comes to resource allocation for benefit of people of the state,” the LoP alleged further.

Patnaik asks the BJP government to take responsibility for people of Odisha and ensure that they get their rightful dues from centre. Odisha and its people deserve more and better from the Union Budget, he opined.