Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday launched affordable bus services in Koraput district, extending the facility to six districts in the first phase.

Under the Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI), the state government plans to operate 1,623 buses in rural areas with a budget of Rs 3,178 crore.?

In the first phase, 63 lakh people in 1,131 panchayats of the six districts stand to benefit from the scheme, officials said.

Earlier, the services were launched in the districts of Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Kalahandi and Gajapati district.

Under the initiative, women, students and differently-abled persons can take a bus ride from their gram panchayats to block headquarters by paying Rs 5.?

During a virtual address, Patnaik said a fleet of 63 state-of-the-art buses will connect 234 panchayats of the district, benefiting 13 lakh people.