Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday said the development work of SCB Medical College will start in March this year.

"Work on SCB Medical College will begin by March and the Ring Road in Cuttack will be a six-lane road," said Patnaik after reviewing several projects for the city here.

Earlier, the state government had announced a Rs 1,000 crore package to transform state-run SCB Medical College and Hospital into an "AIIMS Plus" institute in Odisha.

The Chief Minister said that 424 acres reclaimed from the Mahanadi river will be utilised to add ecological, recreational, sporting, cultural, aspirational, technological value to the life of the people of Cuttack.

"The reclamation of land from our lifeline Mahanadi has created once in a lifetime opportunity to breathe fresh life into the core of our ancient city," he said.

He said it will be the state government's endeavour to prepare a decongestion plan for Cuttack to enable the millennium city to have wider roads, better accessibility, public spaces and utility, parks, modern urban infrastructure, parking, greenery etc.

The Chief Minister said the state government's objective will be to have greenery and open spaces in most of the reclaimed area and utilize the rest of the land for development purposes, surrounded by an international class riverfront.

"In this transformative process, we will engage the best-in-class city planners and also take feedback from the people so that they actively contribute to make it a Citizen's Plan," he added.