The State Government on Wednesday approved a Rs 200-crore development plan for the Samaleswari Temple in Sambalpur. The draft proposal prepared by the Works Department was approved by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
It was decided that the Government would start a Sameleswari Temple Area Management and Local Economy Initiative (SAMALEI) scheme for the 16th-century shrine. The Government would prepare the plan under the 5T initiative on lines of Puri Jagannath Temple and Bhubaneswar Lingaraj Temple.