Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government will purchase 100 new AC coaches and deluxe buses dishing out Rs 40 crore  to increase road connectivity to district headquarters.

The state chief secretary, AP Padhi, Tuesday directed that fund sanctioned in 2017-18 be released in favour of Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) for purchase of the buses.

Out of the 100 buses, 50 AC coaches would be introduced to connect district headquarters while the remaining 50 would be deluxe buses which would replace the old buses.

The meeting chaired by chief secretary was attended by the finance principal secretary TK Pandey, public enterprise principal secretary Vijaya Arora, commerce and transport principal secretary G Srinivas and OSRTC chairman-cum-managing director KB Singh.