Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday accused the Odisha government of obstructing the central government's projects of Rs 1,36,417 crore in the state. It is known that this year's assembly elections are going to be held in Odisha as well as Lok Sabha elections. While addressing a press meet here, Pradhan said that the Odisha government is not cooperating in implementing projects in the state.

Presenting the details of the projects, Pradhan said that the work of Rs 51,395 crore of Petroleum and Natural Gas projects have been stalled and work of road transport and highway projects worth Rs 55,563 crore has also been stopped. Apart from this, the state government is being obstructed in many other projects including the Rs 12,286 crore project of Railways. The work of most projects is halted due to land acquisition and pending approval of the state government.