Overview
Odisha (spelt Orissa until 2011) is a coastal state in eastern India, on the Bay of Bengal. It borders West Bengal and Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west, and Andhra Pradesh to the south; see the guides for West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. Its area is 155,707 sq km, about 4.87 per cent of India, which makes it the eighth-largest state. The coastline is usually given as about 485 km. Bhubaneswar, in Khordha district, is the capital; Cuttack, the old capital, is the largest city by population in most listings and is also home to the High Court. As on October 2026, there are 30 districts in 3 revenue divisions, and no new district has been notified since the 1990s.
The land is the old Kalinga. Ashoka's war against it in about 261 BCE is one of the best-known events of ancient India, Kharavela's Hathigumpha inscription is the main source for the region's early imperial period, and the Eastern Ganga and Gajapati dynasties made Puri's Jagannath Temple the centre of its identity. The modern state began on 1 April 1936, when Orissa was cut out of the Bihar and Orissa province as a separate province on the basis of language. It gained its present borders when about two dozen princely states merged in 1948-49. The state celebrates 1 April as Utkal Divas (Odisha Day).
Three features shape the state. It has a long delta coast where six rivers meet the sea, and it takes direct hits from Bay of Bengal cyclones, notably the super cyclone of October 1999. It has a large tribal population: Census 2011 counted 9,590,756 Scheduled Tribe people, 22.85 per cent of the state, the third-largest tribal population among states. And it holds a large share of India's coal, iron ore, bauxite and chromite, mostly in the hills of the interior.
The main language is Odia, which is the official language alongside English. The legislature is unicameral, a Vidhan Sabha of 147 members.
This part covers history, geography, administration and demography. This guide does not name sitting office-holders; for the current Governor, Chief Minister and others, see Current Affairs.
For exam preparation
- Odisha was formed as a separate province on 1 April 1936; that day is observed as Utkal Divas.
- The state was renamed from Orissa to Odisha in 2011.
- Area is 155,707 sq km and the coastline is about 485 km (one reference gives a longer revised figure).
- As on October 2026, Odisha has 30 districts and 3 revenue divisions (Northern, Central, Southern).
- Census 2011 population is 41,974,218 and the sex ratio is 979.
- The Vidhan Sabha has 147 seats; Bhubaneswar is the capital and Cuttack the former capital.
History
Odisha's history is that of Kalinga and then Utkal, a coastal kingdom between the Mahanadi and Godavari regions that traded across the Bay of Bengal, fought the great empires of the north, and built the temples that now define its landscape. Its Odia-speaking people were later divided among Bengal, Bihar, the Central Provinces and Madras, and the movement to bring them under one government succeeded in 1936.
Kalinga and the ancient period
Kalinga is mentioned in the Mahabharata and appears in early Greek accounts of eastern India. At its widest the name covered the coast between the Ganga and the Godavari, reaching inland towards Amarkantak, so it took in all of Odisha and part of northern Andhra Pradesh. Its ports connected it to Southeast Asia. Some scholars suggest the Shailendra dynasty of Java may have originated in Kalinga, a view reported by R.C. Majumdar and not settled.
The Kalinga War. Ashoka of the Maurya dynasty conquered Kalinga in about 261 BCE, in the eighth year of his reign. Fighting is traditionally placed around the Daya river and the Dhauli hills near Bhubaneswar. Ashoka's own Rock Edict XIII says that about 150,000 people were deported and about 100,000 killed. These are the king's own figures; later writers gave larger totals. The suffering turned him towards dhamma, and he gave up wars of conquest. Ashokan rock edicts survive at Dhauli (Khordha) and Jaugada (Ganjam).
Kharavela. After the Mauryas, the Mahameghavahana dynasty rose in Kalinga. Its best-known king, Kharavela, ruled in the second or first century BCE; scholars place him anywhere from about 180 BCE to the early first century CE. Our main source is his Hathigumpha inscription, cut into a cave at Udayagiri near Bhubaneswar, which records his reign year by year. It speaks of campaigns against the Satakarni kingdom to the west, against Magadha in the north, and against a Tamil confederacy in the south, and of public works such as reservoirs and the extension of a canal first dug under the Nandas. Kharavela was a Jain and patronised the caves at Udayagiri and Khandagiri, though the inscription also says he honoured all gods.
Early and medieval dynasties
Between the Gupta age and the eleventh century the coast and interior were held by a series of local houses, among them the Sailodbhavas, Bhauma-Karas and Somavamshis. The Bhauma-Kara period (eighth to tenth centuries) and the Somavamshi period (ninth to twelfth centuries) are remembered for temple building around Bhubaneswar, where the Lingaraja temple stands.
Eastern Gangas. The Eastern Ganga dynasty ruled from about 1078 to 1434 in its imperial phase, with its capital moved to Kataka (Cuttack). Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva (reigned about 1078 to 1150) held lands from the Ganga in the north to the Godavari in the south, and began the present Jagannath Temple at Puri, which was largely complete by about 1150. Narasimhadeva I (1238 to 1264) built the Sun Temple at Konark and is described as the first Odishan king to use the title Gajapati. Branches of the Ganga family lasted at Paralakhemundi, Hindol and Bamra into the twentieth century.
Gajapatis. Kapilendra Deva founded the Suryavamsi Gajapati dynasty in 1434 or 1435 (sources differ by a year). His empire stretched from the Ganga to the south as far as Tiruchirappalli at its peak. Purushottama Deva followed (1467 to 1497), and then Prataparudra Deva (1497 to 1540), during whose reign Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lived at Puri and the Bhakti movement grew in strength. Defeats by Vijayanagara and Golconda and an internal usurpation ended the dynasty in about 1541, and the Bhoi dynasty followed. Mukunda Deva, remembered as the last independent ruler of Odisha, was defeated in 1568 by forces of the Bengal Sultanate.
Jagannath tradition
The Jagannath Temple at Puri, one of the four Char Dham pilgrimage sites, is dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu, who is worshipped with his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra. The images are carved from neem wood and replaced in a ritual called Nabakalebara, which falls every 12 to 19 years. The tower rises about 214 feet. The annual Ratha Yatra, in which the three deities are drawn on wooden chariots, gave English the word "juggernaut". During it the Gajapati king performs the Chhera Pahara, sweeping the chariot platform with a golden broom to show that all are equal before the deity. This tradition made the king the deity's first servant, and the temple became the focus of Odia identity under both the Gangas and Gajapatis. Local tradition also connects the cult with tribal origins, an idea widely discussed but not settled by evidence.
Mughals, Marathas and the British
Mughal control came in the 1590s and was followed by rule through the Nawabs of Bengal. In 1751 Nawab Alivardi Khan made peace with Raghuji Bhonsle of Nagpur and gave up Cuttack, up to the Subarnarekha river, to the Marathas. The Marathas held Odisha until the Second Anglo-Maratha War, when the Treaty of Deogaon (1803) transferred the province of Cuttack, including Balasore, to the East India Company.
Paika Rebellion, 1817. The Paikas were a peasant militia of Khurda who had served the Gajapati line in exchange for rent-free land. After the Company took that land, changed the currency to silver (replacing cowrie shells) and raised the salt tax, they rose in March 1817 at Banapur and Khurda under Bakshi Jagabandhu, a former military commander. The rising spread to Puri, Pipili and Cuttack in April and was largely put down by May 1817; Jagabandhu surrendered in 1825 and died in captivity in 1829. In 2017 the state asked that it be recognised as the "first war of independence"; the Centre did not accept that claim, but the rebellion was added to the NCERT Class VIII history book in 2021 as one of the early popular uprisings.
Famine of 1866. The failure of the 1865 monsoon led to the Orissa famine of 1866 to 1868, in which an estimated one-third of the people of Odisha died. Official delay in recognising the crisis was blamed by the 1867 Campbell Commission. The disaster led to the Indian Famine Codes and to canal building, including the Orissa Coast Canal.
The Odia movement and the province of 1936
By the late nineteenth century Odia speakers were spread across the Bengal Presidency, the Central Provinces (Sambalpur, which came from them in 1905), and the Madras Presidency (Ganjam and Koraput). The Utkal Sammilani (Utkal Union Conference), first held in Cuttack in 1903 and led by Madhusudan Das, campaigned for a single unit. The new province of Bihar and Orissa was created in 1912 but kept the people within a larger body. After later committees, including the O'Donnell committee, the Government of India Act 1935 provided for a separate Orissa Province. It came into existence on 1 April 1936 with Cuttack as capital, and an initial area of about 84,680 sq km. John Austin Hubback was the first Governor. At the start it had six districts: Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Sambalpur, Ganjam and Koraput.
The first Prime Minister, as the head of the province's government was then called, was Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo, who led a non-party interim ministry from April to July 1937. A Congress ministry under Bishwanath Das followed and resigned in 1939 over India's involvement in the Second World War.
Merger of princely states and the new capital
In 1947 Orissa had a ring of princely states in its hills, collected into the Orissa States Agency (23 non-salute and 4 salute states in one reference). In December 1947 the rulers signed merger agreements, after an adivasi unrest had pushed the government to hurry, and these took effect on 1 January 1948. Several districts, including Dhenkanal, Kalahandi, Kendujhar and Sundargarh, trace their formation to that date. Mayurbhanj joined on 1 January 1949, and Balangir was formed on 1 November 1949. With these mergers the state reached its present area of 155,707 sq km by 1950. It is often said to be the only state to have kept the borders it had before independence, since the 1950 map follows the same outline as today.
Cuttack was prone to floods, and in September 1946 a proposal to move the capital was put before the legislature. The German architect Otto Koenigsberger planned the new city of Bhubaneswar. Its foundation was laid on 13 April 1948, and the assembly moved there in 1949. Bhubaneswar had about 16,000 people in 1951 and 837,737 in Census 2011.
For exam preparation
- Ashoka's Kalinga War took place in about 261 BCE; Rock Edict XIII records about 100,000 killed and 150,000 deported.
- Kharavela of the Mahameghavahana dynasty is known from the Hathigumpha inscription at Udayagiri.
- Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva began the Jagannath Temple at Puri; Narasimhadeva I built the Konark Sun Temple.
- Kapilendra Deva founded the Suryavamsi Gajapati line in 1434 or 1435; Mukunda Deva was defeated in 1568.
- The Marathas gained Odisha in 1751; the British took it under the Treaty of Deogaon in 1803.
- The Paika Rebellion began in 1817 under Bakshi Jagabandhu.
- Orissa Province was formed on 1 April 1936, with Cuttack as capital and Madhusudan Das as the leader of the Odia movement.
- Princely states merged on 1 January 1948 (Mayurbhanj on 1 January 1949); the capital moved to Bhubaneswar, whose foundation stone was laid on 13 April 1948.
Geography
Odisha lies on the east coast of the peninsula between roughly 17.8 and 22.7 degrees north and 81.4 and 87.5 degrees east. The Bay of Bengal forms its eastern edge. West Bengal and Jharkhand lie to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west and north-west, and Andhra Pradesh to the south. The ground rises from a low, flat delta on the coast to hills and plateaus in the interior, and the highest point is Deomali (1,672 m) in Koraput district.
Location and size
The state is about 700 km from north to south and 500 km from east to west in one reference; another gives different extents, so treat these as approximate. The coast is about 485 km long in the figure used by most reference works, though one geography compilation quotes 574.71 km, probably from a revised measurement that includes more indentations. Check the source named in a question. The state is the eighth largest in area and the eleventh largest in population.
Physiography
Geographers divide Odisha into five regions.
| Region | What it is |
|---|---|
| Coastal plains (Utkal plains) | The delta of the Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani and smaller rivers, with Chilika lagoon in the south; the most densely populated and rice-growing belt |
| Middle mountainous region | The Eastern Ghats and hill country, roughly three-fourths of the state in one description; includes Deomali, the highest peak |
| Central plateaus | Eroded plateaus between about 305 and 610 m, including the Panposh-Kendujhar and Nabarangpur-Jeypore plateaus |
| Western rolling uplands | Seven uplands between about 153 and 305 m in the Mahanadi basin, west of the hills |
| Major flood plains | Nine plains formed by the large rivers |
The Eastern Ghats do not form a continuous wall here. They are broken by river valleys and run in a north-east to south-west direction through Kandhamal, Gajapati, Koraput and Rayagada. Other high peaks reported are Sinkaram (1,620 m), Golikoda (1,617 m) and Yendrika (1,582 m).
Rivers and lakes
Six major rivers drain to the sea: the Subarnarekha in the north, then the Budhabalanga, Baitarani, Brahmani, Mahanadi and, in the south, the Rushikulya. The Vamsadhara and Nagavali flow in the south-west, and the Indravati and Kolab (Sabari) rivers in Koraput join the Godavari system. The coastal delta is often called the "gift of six rivers".
| River | Key facts |
|---|---|
| Mahanadi | About 900 km long, basin about 132,100 sq km; rises near Sihawa in Dhamtari (Chhattisgarh) at about 890 m; flows through Chhattisgarh and Odisha; reaches the sea near False Point (Jagatsinghpur); Cuttack and Sambalpur lie on it; main tributaries Seonath, Hasdeo, Jonk, Ib, Tel and Mand |
| Brahmani | Formed near Rourkela by the Sankh and South Koel; about 480 km in Odisha (about 799 km counting its parent streams); basin about 39,033 sq km in the state; flows through Sundargarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Jajpur and Kendrapara; Rengali dam and Samal barrage; joins the Baitarani at the Dhamra estuary |
| Baitarani | About 360 km; rises in the Gonasika hills of Kendujhar at about 900 m; flows north then turns east; 65 tributaries including Budhi, Salandi and Kanjori; meets the Brahmani at the Dhamra mouth near Chandabali |
The Hirakud dam on the Mahanadi near Sambalpur was completed in 1953; at about 26 km it is described as the world's longest earthen dam, and its reservoir is one of Asia's largest artificial lakes.
Chilika is a brackish lagoon in Puri, Khordha and Ganjam districts. Its area varies by season, from about 900 sq km in winter to 1,165 sq km in the monsoon, and it is around 64 km long. A narrow outlet connects it to the sea. It was among the first two Indian wetlands named as Ramsar sites, in 1981. It has about 152 Irrawaddy dolphins (a figure from one account) and attracts over 225 bird species in winter; Kalijai island carries a temple to the lagoon's goddess. Another reference quotes 1,105 sq km for the lagoon, so quote the range, not a single number.
Climate
The climate is tropical and humid. Meteorologists recognise four seasons: winter (January and February), pre-monsoon (March to May), south-west monsoon (June to September) and north-east monsoon (October to December); traditional Odia reckoning has six seasons (rutus). Bhubaneswar's long-term data show a May mean maximum near 37.5 degrees Celsius and a December minimum near 15.2, with August rainfall of about 367 mm, the wettest month. The interior valleys, such as the Sambalpur and Talcher area, are hotter than the coast in summer. Most rain comes from the monsoon and from depressions that form in the Bay of Bengal.
Cyclones. Odisha's coast is among the most cyclone-prone in India, especially in October to November and again in April to May. The worst on record is the super cyclone, which struck between Puri and Kendrapara on 29 October 1999. The Government of India counted 9,887 deaths, and other estimates are higher. About 7,000 were due to the storm surge of 5 to 6 m, and Jagatsinghpur district, where Erasama and Kujang blocks were worst hit, had 8,119 of the deaths. Paradip port was badly damaged. Later storms, among them Phailin (2013), Hudhud (2014), Titli (2018), Fani (2019) and Dana (October 2024, which came ashore near Bhitarkanika), caused far fewer deaths; reports say Dana caused none. The change followed the creation of a state disaster management authority and the building of more than 800 multi-purpose cyclone shelters. Floods in the delta and droughts in the western districts are the other recurring hazards.
Soils
The main soil groups are red soils over much of the uplands and interior, laterite soils on the high ground, alluvial soils in the delta and river valleys, black soils in the west, and mixed red and yellow soils. Alluvium supports the rice belt on the coast; the uplands suit pulses, oilseeds and millets.
Forests, minerals and wildlife
One reference reports forest cover of 48,903 sq km, or 31.41 per cent of the state, and a later India State of Forest Report (2023) recorded a gain of 152 sq km in forest cover in Odisha; the exact current figure is not confirmed here, so check the latest report. Bamboo-bearing area is about 12,328 sq km in that report, the third largest among states. Mangroves cover about 221 sq km in the older reference and are concentrated at Bhitarkanika.
Odisha is mineral rich. One reference reports about one-fifth of India's coal reserves, one-quarter of iron ore reserves, one-third of bauxite and most of the chromite. Iron ore comes mainly from Kendujhar and Sundargarh, coal from Angul-Talcher and the Ib valley in Jharsuguda, bauxite from Koraput, Rayagada and Kalahandi, and chromite from the Sukinda valley in Jajpur. Mining and industry are covered in a later section.
| Protected area | District | Key facts |
|---|---|---|
| Simlipal National Park and Tiger Reserve | Mayurbhanj | Tiger reserve in May 1973; national park status in 1980; biosphere reserve in 1994; UNESCO recognition in May 2009; the reserve is reported at about 2,750 sq km (the core national park is smaller); tigers, elephants and gaur; Barehipani (217 m) and Joranda (181 m) falls; about 1,076 plant species; about 37 per cent of its tigers are pseudo-melanistic (dark-striped) |
| Bhitarkanika National Park | Kendrapara | Notified 16 September 1998; about 145 sq km, inside a 672 sq km sanctuary; Ramsar site in 2002; second largest mangrove system in India; saltwater crocodiles and about 320 bird species |
| Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary | Kendrapara | East of Bhitarkanika; Gahirmatha beach is a major mass nesting site for olive ridley turtles |
| Chandaka Elephant Sanctuary | Khordha (near Bhubaneswar) | About 190 sq km |
Odisha has two national parks, Simlipal and Bhitarkanika. Satkosia (Angul) is a tiger reserve and wildlife sanctuary, not a national park.
For exam preparation
- The coast is about 485 km long; Deomali (1,672 m, Koraput) is the highest peak.
- The six rivers of the delta are the Subarnarekha, Budhabalanga, Baitarani, Brahmani, Mahanadi and Rushikulya.
- The Brahmani is formed by the Sankh and South Koel; the Baitarani rises in Kendujhar; both meet at the Dhamra mouth.
- Hirakud dam on the Mahanadi was completed in 1953.
- Chilika is a brackish lagoon and among India's first two Ramsar sites (1981); Bhitarkanika became a Ramsar site in 2002.
- Simlipal (Mayurbhanj) is a tiger reserve and biosphere reserve; Bhitarkanika (Kendrapara) is a mangrove park with Gahirmatha turtle nesting.
- The super cyclone made landfall on 29 October 1999, with 9,887 deaths officially counted.
Administration and districts
As on October 2026, Odisha has 30 districts in 3 revenue divisions. One district-level compilation also records 58 sub-divisions, 317 tahasils and 314 community development blocks. Each division is headed by a Revenue Divisional Commissioner of the Indian Administrative Service, positioned between the districts and the state secretariat. Each district is run by a Collector and District Magistrate, an IAS officer. Below the districts come sub-divisions, tahasils (the revenue unit) and blocks (the development unit).
Divisions
The three divisions are Northern (headquarters Sambalpur), Central (Cuttack) and Southern (Brahmapur, also written Berhampur). Each has ten districts. The structure has been stable since the district reorganisation of 1992 to 1994.
District table
Area and population are Census 2011 and use the 2011 boundaries; the Formed column is the date given in a district list for the present district, which can differ from the date of the original district.
| District | Headquarters | Division | Formed | Area (sq km) | Population 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angul | Angul | Northern | 1 Apr 1993 | 6,375 | 1,273,821 |
| Balangir | Balangir | Northern | 1 Nov 1949 | 6,575 | 1,648,997 |
| Bargarh | Bargarh | Northern | 1 Apr 1993 | 5,837 | 1,481,255 |
| Debagarh | Debagarh | Northern | 1 Jan 1994 | 2,782 | 312,520 |
| Dhenkanal | Dhenkanal | Northern | 1 Jan 1948 | 4,452 | 1,192,811 |
| Jharsuguda | Jharsuguda | Northern | 1 Jan 1994 | 2,081 | 579,505 |
| Kendujhar | Kendujhar | Northern | 1 Jan 1948 | 8,303 | 1,801,733 |
| Sambalpur | Sambalpur | Northern | 16 Oct 1905 | 6,702 | 1,041,099 |
| Subarnapur | Subarnapur | Northern | 1 Apr 1993 | 2,337 | 610,183 |
| Sundargarh | Sundargarh | Northern | 1 Jan 1948 | 9,712 | 2,093,437 |
| Balasore | Balasore | Central | 23 Oct 1828 | 3,634 | 2,320,529 |
| Bhadrak | Bhadrak | Central | 1 Apr 1993 | 2,505 | 1,506,337 |
| Cuttack | Cuttack | Central | 23 Oct 1828 | 3,932 | 2,624,470 |
| Jagatsinghpur | Jagatsinghpur | Central | 1 Apr 1993 | 1,759 | 1,136,971 |
| Jajpur | Jajpur | Central | 1 Apr 1993 | 2,888 | 1,827,192 |
| Kendrapara | Kendrapara | Central | 1 Apr 1993 | 2,644 | 1,440,361 |
| Khordha | Khordha | Central | 1 Apr 1993 | 2,813 | 2,251,673 |
| Mayurbhanj | Baripada | Central | 1 Jan 1949 | 10,418 | 2,519,738 |
| Nayagarh | Nayagarh | Central | 1 Apr 1993 | 3,890 | 962,789 |
| Puri | Puri | Central | 23 Oct 1828 | 3,051 | 1,698,730 |
| Boudh | Boudh | Southern | 2 Jan 1994 | 3,445 | 441,162 |
| Gajapati | Paralakhemundi | Southern | 2 Oct 1992 | 3,850 | 577,817 |
| Ganjam | Chhatrapur | Southern | 1 Apr 1936 | 8,206 | 3,529,031 |
| Kalahandi | Bhawanipatna | Southern | 1 Jan 1948 | 7,920 | 1,576,869 |
| Kandhamal | Phulbani | Southern | 1 Jan 1994 | 7,654 | 733,110 |
| Koraput | Koraput | Southern | 1 Apr 1936 | 8,807 | 1,379,647 |
| Malkangiri | Malkangiri | Southern | 2 Oct 1992 | 5,791 | 613,192 |
| Nabarangpur | Nabarangpur | Southern | 2 Oct 1992 | 5,294 | 1,220,946 |
| Nuapada | Nuapada | Southern | 1 Apr 1993 | 3,852 | 610,382 |
| Rayagada | Rayagada | Southern | 2 Oct 1992 | 7,073 | 967,911 |
The largest district by area is Mayurbhanj (10,418 sq km) and the smallest is Jagatsinghpur (1,759 sq km). The largest by population is Ganjam (3,529,031 in 2011) and the smallest is Debagarh (312,520). Khordha holds the capital, and Cuttack the High Court. Chhatrapur is the headquarters of Ganjam, while Brahmapur, the largest city of that district, is the Southern division's seat. Note that Kendujhar is also written Keonjhar and Balasore as Baleswar, and Debagarh as Deogarh and Subarnapur as Sonepur in older books.
Formation of new districts
The 1936 province started with six districts (Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Sambalpur, Ganjam and Koraput). The merger of princely states in 1948-49 added the districts of Dhenkanal, Kalahandi, Kendujhar and Sundargarh (1 January 1948), Mayurbhanj (1 January 1949) and Balangir (1 November 1949). The big rise to 30 came in three steps: four districts on 2 October 1992 (Gajapati, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada), ten on 1 April 1993 (Angul, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Khordha, Nayagarh, Nuapada and Subarnapur) and four in January 1994 (Boudh, Debagarh, Jharsuguda and Kandhamal). Most were carved out of the large undivided districts of Koraput, Cuttack, Balasore, Sambalpur, Phulbani and others.
New districts, 2024 to 2026. No new district was notified in the sources opened here, and the standard district list still shows 30. The question is, however, open. In February 2026 the state told the Assembly that it had received 31 memoranda seeking new districts and 66 for new sub-divisions, and that these were under consideration for the 2026-27 year with no final decision. Press reports mention demands to split Mayurbhanj and Ganjam, and to create districts from Balangir and Bargarh, among others. Earlier, in January 2024, the Orissa High Court had restrained the government from finalising any new district without its permission; the case concerned the proposed Padampur district. How far that order still applies is not confirmed. The government also created a new police district at Rairangpur (by splitting Mayurbhanj police district), which is a police unit and not a revenue district. Before an exam, check whether the count has risen above 30.
Local government
Rural areas have the three-tier Panchayati Raj system: a Zilla Parishad in each of the 30 districts, a Panchayat Samiti in each of the 314 blocks, and gram panchayats at village level. One audit report counted 6,209 gram panchayats, and later counts differ, so the figure is not quoted here as current. The State Election Commission was set up on 27 May 1994, after the 73rd and 74th amendments, and ran the first panchayat elections in 1997. Ward members, sarpanches and members of panchayat samitis and zilla parishads are elected directly; posts such as the naib sarpanch and chairpersons are filled indirectly.
Urban areas have municipal corporations, municipalities and notified area councils (NACs). The established corporations are Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur (Brahmapur), Sambalpur and Rourkela. A list also shows Puri Municipal Corporation as set up in 2025, from a single reference, so treat it as reported.
Fifth Schedule areas
Odisha has no Sixth Schedule area. Large parts of the state are Scheduled Areas under the Fifth Schedule, as fixed by a Presidential Order in 1977 (the Scheduled Areas (States of Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa) Order, 1977). The whole districts are Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and the old undivided Koraput (now Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada). Parts are also covered: Kuchinda tahasil in Sambalpur, the Kendujhar, Telkoi, Champua and Barbil tahasils of Kendujhar, Kandhamal, Balliguda and G. Udayagiri tahasils of the old Kandhamal area, and some blocks of Ganjam. The Governor has special powers over these areas, and the state's tribal advisory council advises on them. The exact current list of blocks should be checked in the latest Presidential Order.
For exam preparation
- Odisha has 30 districts and 3 revenue divisions; the headquarters are Sambalpur (Northern), Cuttack (Central) and Brahmapur (Southern).
- Thirty districts were reached in the 1992 to 1994 reorganisation; the count has stayed at 30 since January 1994 (as on October 2026).
- Mayurbhanj is the largest district by area and Ganjam the largest by population (Census 2011).
- Debagarh has the smallest population (312,520); Jagatsinghpur has the smallest area.
- Panchayati Raj has three tiers: 30 Zilla Parishads, 314 Panchayat Samitis and gram panchayats.
- Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and the old Koraput district are fully Scheduled Areas under the Fifth Schedule.
Demography
Census 2011 is still the latest published census, and Census 2027 results are not out. It counted 41,974,218 people in Odisha, making it the eleventh most populous state, with a decadal growth of about 14 per cent. The state is more than four-fifths rural. Its sex ratio is 979 females per 1,000 males and it has a large Scheduled Tribe population.
Census 2011 at a glance
| Indicator (Census 2011) | Value |
|---|---|
| Population | 41,974,218 |
| Males | 21,212,136 |
| Females | 20,762,082 |
| Decadal growth, 2001 to 2011 | about 14 per cent |
| Density | about 270 per sq km (sources give 269 or 270) |
| Rank by population | 11th among states |
| Sex ratio (females per 1,000 males) | 979 |
| Child sex ratio (age 0 to 6) | 941 (some sources give 942) |
| Literacy (age 7 and above) | 72.87 per cent (male 81.59, female 64.01) |
| Rural population | 83.32 per cent |
| Urban population | 16.68 per cent |
| Scheduled Castes | 7,188,463 (about 17.1 per cent) |
| Scheduled Tribes | 9,590,756 (about 22.85 per cent) |
Male and female literacy figures differ slightly between sources (one gives 82.40 and 64.36); the pair above agrees with the 72.87 total. District figures use 2011 boundaries. Later literacy estimates, such as 79 per cent quoted for 2024, are not Census figures.
Tribes and PVTGs
Odisha has the third-largest Scheduled Tribe population among the states, after Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Census counted 62 Scheduled Tribes; one later compilation says 64, so the number depends on the date of the list. The largest groups include the Kondh (about one million in one account, mainly Kandhamal), the Santal (over 800,000, mainly Mayurbhanj) and the Saora (over 300,000, in the south), along with the Gond, Munda, Bhuyan, Oram, Koya and Paroja. About 45 per cent of ST people report Odia as their mother tongue, followed by Kui (about 10 per cent) and Santali (about 9 per cent).
Thirteen groups are listed as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), among them the Birhor, Bonda, Chuktia Bhunjia, Didayi, Dongria Kondh, Juang, Kharia, Kutia Kondh, Lanjia Saora, Lodha, Mankirdia, Paudi Bhuyan and Saora. Spellings differ between lists; the Kharia entry is Hill Kharia in some. Their areas are in the Scheduled Areas, for instance the Dongria Kondh on the Niyamgiri hills (Rayagada and Kalahandi) and the Bonda in Malkangiri.
Languages
Odia is spoken by about 82 per cent of the population, roughly 37.5 million people in India, of whom 93 per cent live in Odisha. It was granted classical language status on 20 February 2014, the sixth Indian language to be so recognised. Other languages include Santali, Kui, Telugu (in Ganjam and Koraput borders), Hindi, Bengali and many tribal languages such as Ho, Mundari, Kuvi, Saora and Gondi. Odia and English are the official languages of the state. Exact Census 2011 shares for these languages were not confirmed.
Religion
Census 2011 shares are Hindu 93.63 per cent, Christian 2.77 per cent and Muslim 2.17 per cent; Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and other religions together make up the rest, with many tribal people listed under "other religions and persuasions" or as Hindu. One reference notes that Hindus numbered about 39.3 million.
Cities and urbanisation
The state is about 17 per cent urban. Cities by 2011 count, as reported in one reference (figures are for urban agglomerations, and municipal corporation figures are slightly different): Cuttack 921,321; Bhubaneswar 881,988 (837,737 within the municipal corporation); Rourkela 552,970; Brahmapur 355,823. Sambalpur follows. The Census figure for Bhubaneswar grew from about 16,000 in 1951, reflecting its role as the capital.
Human development
One compilation reports a Human Development Index of 0.610 (Medium), 33rd among the states, but gives no year for the figure, so it is marked as reported. NFHS-5 indicators were not verified for this section.
For exam preparation
- Census 2011 population is 41,974,218; sex ratio 979; literacy 72.87 per cent.
- Odisha is 83.32 per cent rural and 16.68 per cent urban (Census 2011).
- Scheduled Tribes are 22.85 per cent (9,590,756) and Scheduled Castes about 17.1 per cent (7,188,463).
- Odisha has the third-largest ST population among states and 13 PVTGs.
- Odia was given classical language status on 20 February 2014.
- Ganjam is the most populous district; Debagarh the least populous.
How the state is governed
Odisha has a parliamentary system under the Constitution of India: a Governor as constitutional head, a Chief Minister who leads an elected government, and a single-chamber (unicameral) Assembly of 147 members. This section describes structure, which stays the same from one government to the next. Names of sitting office-holders change, so this guide does not list them; for the current Governor, Chief Minister, ministers, Chief Secretary, DGP and Chief Justice, use the official state portal and our current affairs pages. Past office-holders with completed tenures are listed later in this part. Odisha became a separate province on 1 April 1936, and its capital is Bhubaneswar, which replaced Cuttack after Independence (reported; we did not confirm the date of the shift).
The executive
| Office | Role | How filled |
|---|---|---|
| Governor | Constitutional head; summons, prorogues and dissolves the Assembly, gives assent to bills, appoints the Chief Minister; Chancellor of the state universities | Appointed by the President for a term of five years, serving at the President's pleasure; official residences are listed as Lok Bhavan at Bhubaneswar and at Puri (Wikipedia; the older name was Raj Bhavan) |
| Chief Minister | Head of the government; leads the council of ministers | Leader of the party or alliance that commands a majority in the Assembly, appointed by the Governor |
| Council of ministers | Runs the departments; collectively responsible to the Assembly | Ceiling of 15 per cent of the House under Article 164(1A), which works out at 22 for 147 seats (our calculation: 22.05) |
| Chief Secretary | Head of the civil service and the secretariat | Senior IAS officer chosen by the government |
| Director General of Police | Head of the state police | IPS officer, selected under the Supreme Court's Prakash Singh guidelines |
| Advocate General | Chief legal adviser to the government | Appointed by the Governor under Article 165 |
Before 1950 the head of government was called the Prime Minister of Orissa, as in all British Indian provinces; the title became Chief Minister when the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950 (Wikipedia list of Chief Ministers).
Departments and bodies
The government works through departments headed by ministers and run by secretaries. Constitutional and statutory bodies include:
- the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC, Articles 315 to 323), which conducts recruitment to state civil services (see our exam guides);
- the Odisha State Election Commission (Article 243K), which conducts panchayat and urban local body elections and is headed by a State Election Commissioner appointed by the Governor;
- the State Finance Commission, the State Information Commission and the State Human Rights Commission; and
- the Odisha Lokayukta, covered in the next section.
The Chief Electoral Officer, a senior officer appointed with the approval of the Election Commission of India, runs elections to the Assembly and Parliament. On the ground the state has 30 districts grouped into three revenue divisions, Northern, Central and Southern (reported; Part A carries the district list and the as-on date). Local government is covered under Elections below.
A governance reform worth knowing is disaster management. After the super cyclone of October 1999, the state created the Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) on 29 December 1999 as an autonomous society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (OSDMA's own FAQ, via search result). We did not confirm whether it was the first such state body in India.
For exam preparation
- The Governor is appointed by the President; the Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor.
- The council of ministers is capped at 15 per cent of the House under Article 164(1A), inserted by the 91st Amendment (2003).
- The Advocate General is covered by Article 165; the Governor's powers by Articles 153 to 167.
- OPSC is a constitutional body under Articles 315 to 323; the State Election Commission comes under Article 243K.
- The head of government was called Prime Minister of Orissa from 1937 to 1950.
- The Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority was created on 29 December 1999, after the super cyclone.
Legislature, Parliament and judiciary
Odisha has a single-chamber legislature, the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), of 147 members. There is no Vidhan Parishad. The state sends 10 members to the Rajya Sabha and 21 to the Lok Sabha. The 17th Assembly was elected in May to June 2024, and counting was on 4 June 2024.
Vidhan Sabha
The Assembly meets at the Vidhan Soudha in Bhubaneswar and has a normal term of five years. Per Wikipedia, the first Assembly after the Constitution was constituted on 20 February 1952 with 140 members; the strength rose to 147 from the sixth Assembly (1974), which is the current figure. The majority mark is 74. Of the 147 seats, 24 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 33 for Scheduled Tribes, and 90 are General (our count from Wikipedia's constituency list; a search summary gave the same split). The ST share is large because tribal people are a large part of the population; Part A has the Census 2011 figures.
The result of the 2024 election, the latest, is below. Strength changes through by-elections, resignations and defections, so we give the election result and not the live position. For the live position, see the Assembly website.
| Party | Seats, 2024 election |
|---|---|
| Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) | 78 |
| Biju Janata Dal (BJD) | 51 |
| Indian National Congress (INC) | 14 |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 1 |
| Independents | 3 |
| Total | 147 |
Wikipedia reports that three Independents joined the BJP after the result, taking its working strength to 81, and that the BJP later won the Nuapada by-election in November 2025. Treat both as reported; the later changes are not tracked here.
Speakers and officers
The Speaker presides over the House and is elected by members at the first sitting of a new Assembly. The first Speaker was Mukunda Prasad Das, in the provincial Assembly from 28 July 1937 (Wikipedia). Past Speakers are listed later in this part. The incumbent Speaker and Deputy Speaker are not named here.
Rajya Sabha
Odisha elects 10 members, who serve six-year terms and are chosen by MLAs through the single transferable vote. Terms are staggered, so seats fall due in batches. We have not listed members.
Lok Sabha
The state has 21 constituencies, 3 reserved for Scheduled Castes (Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur), 5 reserved for Scheduled Tribes (Keonjhar, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Sundargarh) and 13 General. The list of 21 below is from Wikipedia's election pages.
| Reserved SC | Reserved ST | General |
|---|---|---|
| Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur | Keonjhar, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Sundargarh | Aska, Balasore, Bargarh, Berhampur, Bhubaneswar, Bolangir, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Kendrapara, Puri, Sambalpur |
High Court
The Orissa High Court sits at Cuttack and has jurisdiction over the whole state. Per Wikipedia:
- Odisha was first under the Calcutta High Court, then the Patna High Court (constituted 9 February 1916), which opened a Circuit Court at Cuttack on 18 May 1916.
- Odisha became a separate province on 1 April 1936 without its own High Court.
- The Orissa High Court Order, 1948 was issued under Section 229(1) of the Government of India Act, 1935 on 30 April 1948, and the court was inaugurated on 26 July 1948.
The sanctioned strength is 33 judges, 24 permanent and 9 additional, raised from 27 by a notification of 2 February 2022 (Wikipedia; strength can be revised by the Centre). A Museum of Justice has been set up in the Barabati Fort compound at Cuttack. We did not confirm whether any bench or circuit sitting operates away from Cuttack. Below the High Court are district and sessions courts in each district, family courts and special courts. Chief Justices with completed tenures are listed later in this part.
Lokayukta, Election Commission and other bodies
The Odisha Lokayukta is the state's anti-corruption ombudsman. Wikipedia says it was created under a state Lokayukta and Deputy Lokayukta Act and that the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 (in force from 16 January 2014) required every state to have one. The Governor appoints the Lokayukta after consulting a committee that includes the Chief Minister, the Speaker and the Leader of Opposition. The Odisha State Election Commission, set up under Article 243K, conducts panchayat and urban local body elections; the Governor appoints the State Election Commissioner, who can be removed only in the way a High Court judge can be.
For exam preparation
- The Assembly has 147 seats: 90 General, 24 SC and 33 ST; the majority mark is 74.
- Odisha has a unicameral legislature; it has no Legislative Council.
- Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha seats (3 SC, 5 ST) and 10 Rajya Sabha seats.
- The strength was 140 until the fifth Assembly (1971 election) and 147 from the sixth (1974).
- The Orissa High Court was inaugurated at Cuttack on 26 July 1948; its sanctioned strength is 33 (Wikipedia).
- The Patna High Court's Circuit Court at Cuttack first sat on 18 May 1916.
- The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 came into force on 16 January 2014.
Elections
Odisha has held 17 Assembly elections since 1952 (plus the provincial polls of 1937 and 1946). The Congress won the first three, in 1952, 1957 and 1961. The Swatantra Party led in 1967, the Congress in 1971 and 1974, and the Janata Party swept the state in 1977. The Congress returned in 1980, 1985 and 1995, with the Janata Dal winning a record 123 seats in 1990. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) then won five elections in a row, 2000 to 2019. In 2024 the BJP won 78 seats and formed its first government in the state, ending the BJD's rule of 24 years and 99 days. The Assembly and Lok Sabha elections have been held together in recent cycles, which makes the results easy to compare.
Vidhan Sabha elections, 1952 to 2024
Party names are those used at the time. Seat counts are from Wikipedia's election pages and its Elections in Odisha table. Turnout is shown where a statewide figure was available; "n/c" means not confirmed.
| Year | Seats | Largest parties (seats) | Government after the election |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | 140 | INC 67, Ganatantra Parishad 31, Socialist Party 10, CPI 7, Independents 24 | INC |
| 1957 | 140 | INC 56, Ganatantra Parishad 51, PSP 11, CPI 9, Independents 13 | INC |
| 1961 | 140 | INC 82, Ganatantra Parishad 37, PSP 10, Independents 17 | INC |
| 1967 | 140 | Swatantra 49, INC 31, Orissa Jana Congress 26, PSP 21 | Swatantra-led coalition |
| 1971 | 140 | INC(R) 51, Swatantra 36, Utkal Congress 33 | Independent-led, then INC(R) |
| 1974 | 147 | INC(R) 69, Utkal Congress 35, Swatantra 21 | INC(R) |
| 1977 | 147 | Janata Party 110, INC(R) 26, CPI 1 | Janata Party |
| 1980 | 147 | INC(I) 118, JP(S) 13, CPI 4 | INC |
| 1985 | 147 | INC 117, Janata Party 21, CPI 1 | INC |
| 1990 | 147 | Janata Dal 123, INC 10, CPI 5, BJP 2 | Janata Dal |
| 1995 | 147 | INC 80, Janata Dal 46, BJP 9, JMM 4 | INC |
| 2000 | 147 | BJD 68, BJP 38, INC 26 | BJD-BJP |
| 2004 | 147 | BJD 61, INC 38, BJP 32 | BJD-BJP |
| 2009 | 147 | BJD 103, INC 27, BJP 6, NCP 4 | BJD |
| 2014 | 147 | BJD 117, INC 16, BJP 10 | BJD |
| 2019 | 147 | BJD 112 (113 with Patkura), BJP 23, INC 9 | BJD |
| 2024 | 147 | BJP 78, BJD 51, INC 14, CPI(M) 1, Independents 3 | BJP |
In 2019 the poll in Patkura was countermanded after the death of a candidate; the count of 23 May 2019 covered 146 seats and Wikipedia's later table lists the BJD at 113 with Patkura. The date of the later Patkura poll is not clear in our sources (the page mentions both 19 May and July 2019), so we have left it out. In 2024 Wikipedia's Elections in Odisha table lists the Congress at 10, but the election page and the Assembly page give 14; we use 14.
| Year | Turnout | Vote share of the leading parties |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 | n/c | INC 37.87%, Ganatantra Parishad 20.50%, Socialist Party 11.77% |
| 1957 | n/c | INC 38.26%, Ganatantra Parishad 28.74%, PSP 10.4% |
| 1961 | n/c | INC 43.28%, Ganatantra Parishad 22.34% |
| 1967 | n/c | INC 30.66%, Swatantra 22.58%, Orissa Jana Congress 13.47% |
| 1990 | 56.63% | Janata Dal 53.69%, INC 29.78%, BJP 3.56% |
| 1995 | 73.64% | INC 39.08%, Janata Dal 35.41% (another page shows 35.73%), BJP 7.88% |
| 2000 | 59.10% | INC 33.78%, BJD 29.40%, BJP 18.20% |
| 2004 | n/c | INC 34.82%, BJD 27.36%, BJP 17.11% |
| 2009 | 65.35% | BJD 38.86%, INC 29.10%, BJP 15.03% |
| 2014 | 73.80% | BJD 43.35%, INC 25.71%, BJP 17.99% |
| 2019 | 73.20% | BJD 44.7%, BJP 32.5%, INC 16.1% |
| 2024 | 74.79% | BJD 40.22%, BJP 40.07%, INC 13.26% |
Vote shares are from Wikipedia citing the Election Commission; use them for comparison, not exact answers. In 2000 and 2004 the Congress led in vote share but won fewer seats than the BJD, which was in alliance with the BJP. In 2024 the BJD had a slightly higher vote share than the BJP, 40.22 against 40.07 per cent, but won 27 fewer seats.
Earlier elections in brief
The Ganatantra Parishad, a party formed by former princely-state rulers and landlords, was the main opposition in 1952, 1957 and 1961 (Wikipedia). The 1977 Janata Party wave brought 110 of 147 seats and left the Congress (R) with 26. In 1990 the Janata Dal, led by Biju Patnaik, won 123 seats and reduced the Congress from 117 to 10, a fall of 107 seats, the biggest swing in our table.
The three most recent elections
2014. Polling was on 10 and 17 April, held together with the Lok Sabha polls, and the result was declared on 16 May. The BJD won 117 of 147 seats with 43.35 per cent of the vote, up 14 seats on 2009, which was its best total. The Congress won 16 and the BJP 10, up from 6. Turnout was 73.80 per cent from 2.92 crore electors (Wikipedia, citing the Election Commission).
2019. Polling was in four phases on 11, 18, 23 and 29 April, with counting on 23 May. The BJD won 112 seats and 44.7 per cent in the first count, giving it a fifth straight term. The BJP rose from 10 to 23 seats and its vote share by about 14.5 points to 32.5 per cent, and the Congress fell to 9. The BJD's tally became 113 after Patkura, where polling was held later. Wikipedia reports turnout at 73.20 per cent. The Election Commission also extended the poll process after Cyclone Fani in May 2019.
2024. Polling was in four phases on 13 May, 20 May, 25 May and 1 June, with counting on 4 June 2024. The BJP won 78 seats against a majority mark of 74, the BJD 51, the Congress 14, the CPI(M) 1 and Independents 3. Turnout was 74.79 per cent, up 1.59 points, from 3.37 crore electors (Wikipedia, citing the Election Commission). Both main parties fielded candidates in all 147 seats. A total of 1,283 candidates stood, of whom about 14 per cent were women (reported). The outgoing Chief Minister won Hinjili and lost Kantabanji, where he also stood. The new Chief Minister was sworn in on 12 June 2024 with two Deputy Chief Ministers. The BJP's 2024 manifesto proposed the Subhadra Yojana for women; Wikipedia's account of the campaign names Odia identity, anti-incumbency and the role of a former civil servant in the BJD as themes in analyses (reported; not our judgement).
Lok Sabha elections
Odisha has had 21 Lok Sabha seats since 1977 (20 before that). Parties are shown by seats won; Wikipedia's page for the 1998 to 2004 polls did not give vote shares, so we have left them out.
| Year | BJD | BJP | INC | Others | BJD vote | BJP vote | INC vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 9 | 7 | 5 | none | n/c | n/c | n/c |
| 1999 | 10 | 9 | 2 | none | n/c | n/c | n/c |
| 2004 | 11 | 7 | 2 | JMM 1 | n/c | n/c | n/c |
| 2009 | 14 | 0 | 6 | CPI 1 | 37.23% | n/c | 32.75% |
| 2014 | 20 | 1 | 0 | none | 44.77% | 21.88% | 26.38% |
| 2019 | 12 | 8 | 1 | none | 42.8% | 38.4% | 13.4% |
| 2024 | 0 | 20 | 1 | none | 37.53% | 45.34% | 13.06% |
Turnout was 65.35 per cent in 2009, 73.79 in 2014, 73.29 in 2019 and 74.78 in 2024. In 1998 the BJD, formed on 26 December 1997, won 9 seats in its first Lok Sabha election. In 2024 the BJP won 20 of 21 seats and the Congress won Koraput; the BJD, which had won 12 in 2019, won none. Before 1998 the Congress won 16 of 21 seats in 1996 and 20 of 21 in 1980 and 1984, the Janata Dal 16 in 1989 and the Janata Party 15 of 21 in 1977 (Wikipedia).
Simultaneous elections
Assembly and Lok Sabha polls were held on the same schedule in 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024. The 2004 Assembly polls on 20 and 26 April matched the state's Lok Sabha phases (our inference from dates). The 2000 Assembly election was separate, as the 1999 Lok Sabha poll came earlier.
By-elections
Wikipedia's page on the 16th Assembly (2019 to 2024) records these by-elections after deaths of sitting members: Balasore and Tirtol (November 2020, both won by the BJD; Balasore had been held by the BJP), Pipili (October 2021, BJD; the seat is not named in our source, so reported), Brajarajnagar (June 2022, BJD), Dhamnagar (November 2022, BJP), Padampur (December 2022, BJD) and Jharsuguda (2023, BJD, after the death of a sitting minister in January 2023). The 15th Assembly had a Bijepur by-election in 2018. In the 17th Assembly, the BJP won the Nuapada by-election in November 2025 after a death on 8 September 2025. The list is from one page and may be incomplete; the dates for Jharsuguda are not given beyond the year.
Panchayat elections, 2022
Panchayat polls are run by the State Election Commission. The three tiers are the gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and zilla parishad. The 2022 general election was held in five phases on 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 February, and results were declared on 1 March (reported). For the 852 zilla parishad seats across 30 districts, the BJD won 765 plus one uncontested, the BJP 42, the Congress 37 and others 7 (OdishaBytes, reported). The BJD formed zilla parishads in all 30 districts, against 20 in 2017, and the BJP won no seat in 10 districts. Valid votes were about 2.10 crore against about 2.79 crore rural voters, which is roughly three-quarters (our calculation from reported figures). The share of women's reservation in panchayats and the 2022 reservation orders are not confirmed in our sources.
Urban local body elections, 2022
The fifth general election to urban local bodies was held on 24 March 2022, with counting on 26 March (Wikipedia). Polls were held in 111 of 115 bodies: 3 municipal corporations (Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur), 47 municipalities and 61 Notified Area Councils. Pending court cases kept Rourkela and Sambalpur corporations, Puri municipality and Odagaon NAC out. Turnout was 61.26 per cent. Mayors and chairpersons were elected directly, and NOTA was introduced in these polls for the first time (as reported on Wikipedia). The BJD won all three mayoral posts and 116 of the 168 corporator seats, the BJP 24, the Congress 9 and Independents 19. We did not confirm the full tally of chairperson posts, as the numbers we saw did not add up.
Reservation, delimitation and voters
The Assembly has 24 SC and 33 ST seats; the Lok Sabha has 3 SC and 5 ST seats. The total of 147 Assembly seats has applied since 1974, and the 21 Lok Sabha seats since 1977. The present boundaries date from a Delimitation Commission order, which we believe to be of 2008 (we did not open it). Under the 84th Amendment, the number of seats in each state is frozen until the first census after 2026, so the 147 and 21 are unlikely to change until then. The roll had about 2.92 crore electors in 2014 and about 3.37 crore in 2024. The sex ratio of electors and the number of EPICs were not confirmed. Women's reservation of one-third of seats in Parliament and state Assemblies, passed by Parliament in 2023, applies only after a fresh delimitation; we have not confirmed dates for Odisha.
Firsts and records
- The Janata Dal's 123 seats in 1990 is the highest total in our table; the BJD's 117 in 2014 is its best.
- The BJD won five consecutive Assembly elections (2000, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019); the 2000 to 2024 tenure of its leader is the longest in the state's history.
- The 2024 turnout of 74.79 per cent is the highest in our table where turnout is confirmed; 1990 (56.63 per cent) is the lowest.
- The Congress fell from 117 seats in 1985 to 10 in 1990, and the BJP rose from 23 seats in 2019 to 78 in 2024.
- The 2024 election was the first in which the BJP formed the government in Odisha (reported by Wikipedia as ending the BJD's 24-year tenure).
For exam preparation
- The first Assembly election after the Constitution was held in 1952 on 140 seats; the Congress won 67.
- The Assembly strength rose from 140 to 147 with the 1974 election.
- In 1990 the Janata Dal won 123 seats; in 1995 the Congress won 80.
- The BJD was formed on 26 December 1997 and first won power in the 2000 election, with 68 seats.
- The BJD won 61 seats in 2004, 103 in 2009, 117 in 2014 and 112 in 2019 (113 with Patkura).
- In 2024, polling was in four phases from 13 May to 1 June, counting was on 4 June, the BJP won 78 seats and turnout was 74.79 per cent.
- In 2019 the BJD won 12 of 21 Lok Sabha seats; in 2024 the BJP won 20 and the Congress 1.
- Municipal polls were held on 24 March 2022 for 111 bodies; the BJD won all three mayoral posts.
- In the 2022 panchayat polls, the BJD won 765 plus one uncontested of the 852 zilla parishad seats.
Past Chief Ministers, Governors and office-holders
This section lists only completed tenures, which do not change. Fourteen people have completed tenures as Chief Minister since 1950 (Wikipedia numbers the Chief Minister in office since June 2024 as the 15th), preceded by the Premiers of the provincial period. The Governors and Speakers below include acting spells. Dates for short or acting appointments can differ by a few days between sources.
Chief Ministers and Premiers
Under British rule the post was called Prime Minister of Orissa. Some people served more than one stint, so some rows list several periods.
| Name (party) | Tenure |
|---|---|
| Krushna Chandra Gajapati (Independent) | 1 Apr to 19 Jul 1937; 24 Nov 1941 to 30 Jun 1944 (Premier) |
| Bishwanath Das (INC) | 19 Jul 1937 to 6 Nov 1939 (Premier); 3 Apr 1971 to 14 Jun 1972 (listed as Independent) |
| Harekrushna Mahatab (INC) | 23 Apr 1946 to 12 May 1950; 19 Oct 1956 to 25 Feb 1961 |
| Nabakrushna Choudhuri (INC) | 12 May 1950 to 19 Oct 1956 |
| Biju Patnaik (INC; later Janata Dal) | 23 Jun 1961 to 2 Oct 1963; 5 Mar 1990 to 15 Mar 1995 |
| Biren Mitra (INC) | 2 Oct 1963 to 21 Feb 1965 |
| Sadashiva Tripathy (INC) | 21 Feb 1965 to 8 Mar 1967 |
| Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo (Swatantra) | 8 Mar 1967 to 9 Jan 1971 |
| Nandini Satpathy (INC) | 14 Jun 1972 to 3 Mar 1973; 6 Mar 1974 to 16 Dec 1976 |
| Binayak Acharya (INC) | 29 Dec 1976 to 30 Apr 1977 |
| Nilamani Routray (Janata Party) | 26 Jun 1977 to 17 Feb 1980 |
| Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (INC) | 9 Jun 1980 to 7 Dec 1989; 15 Mar 1995 to 17 Feb 1999 |
| Hemananda Biswal (INC) | 7 Dec 1989 to 5 Mar 1990; 6 Dec 1999 to 5 Mar 2000 |
| Giridhar Gamang (INC) | 17 Feb 1999 to 6 Dec 1999 |
| Naveen Patnaik (BJD) | 5 Mar 2000 to 12 Jun 2024 (five terms) |
| Incumbent | From 12 Jun 2024 |
The 2000 to 2024 tenure of 24 years and 99 days is the longest in the state's history; the second longest is 13 years and 155 days over two spells (Wikipedia). The Congress held the office for about 46 per cent of all time. The five swearing-ins of the 2000 to 2024 tenure were on 5 March 2000, 16 May 2004, 21 May 2009, 21 May 2014 and 29 May 2019.
President's rule
The tracker in Wikipedia's list shows six periods of President's rule: 25 February to 23 June 1961, 9 January to 3 April 1971, 3 March 1973 to 6 March 1974, 16 to 29 December 1976, 30 April to 26 June 1977 and 17 February to 9 June 1980. The reasons for each episode are not confirmed in the sources we opened.
Governors
Counts differ depending on how acting and additional-charge spells are treated, so we list names and dates only. The post began with the province on 1 April 1936, and the first Governor was John Austen Hubback; Kailash Nath Katju was the first after Independence (15 August 1947 to 20 June 1948). The full list from 1936 is on Wikipedia's list of Governors of Odisha; the table below starts with the tenures that began in 1990.
| Governor | Tenure |
|---|---|
| Yagya Dutt Sharma | 7 Feb 1990 to 1 Feb 1993 |
| B. Satya Narayan Reddy | 1 Jun 1993 to 17 Jun 1995 |
| Gopala Ramanujam | 18 Jun 1995 to 30 Jan 1997; 13 Feb to 13 Dec 1997 |
| K. V. Raghunatha Reddy (acting) | 31 Jan to 12 Feb 1997; 13 Dec 1997 to 27 Apr 1998 |
| C. Rangarajan | 27 Apr 1998 to 14 Nov 1999 |
| M. M. Rajendran | 15 Nov 1999 to 3 Mar 2003; 16 Nov 2003 to 17 Nov 2004 |
| Surjit Singh Barnala | 4 Mar to 16 Nov 2003 |
| Rameshwar Thakur | 18 Nov 2004 to 21 Aug 2007 |
| Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare | 21 Aug 2007 to 20 Mar 2013 |
| S. C. Jamir | 21 Mar 2013 to 20 Mar 2018 |
| Satya Pal Malik (acting) | 21 Mar to 28 May 2018 |
| Ganeshi Lal | 29 May 2018 to 30 Oct 2023 |
| Raghubar Das | 31 Oct 2023 to 3 Jan 2025 (resigned, per Wikipedia's legend) |
| Incumbent | From 3 Jan 2025 |
Wikipedia gives Bhandare as the longest-serving Governor, at about 5 years and 211 days.
Speakers of the Vidhan Sabha
From Wikipedia's list, from the Assembly elected in 1990; the first Speaker was Mukunda Prasad Das (1937 to 1946), and earlier names are on the Assembly's list. The incumbent is not named.
| Speaker | Spell |
|---|---|
| Yudhistir Das | 9 Mar 1990 to 22 Mar 1995 |
| Kishore Chandra Patel | 22 Mar 1995 to 14 Jan 1996 |
| Chintamani Dyan Samantra | 16 Feb 1996 to 10 Mar 2000 |
| Sarat Kumar Kar | 10 Mar 2000 to 21 May 2004 |
| Maheswar Mohanty | 21 May 2004 to 31 Mar 2008 |
| Prahlad Dora | 31 Mar to 19 Aug 2008 |
| Kishore Kumar Mohanty | 19 Aug 2008 to 25 May 2009 |
| Pradip Kumar Amat | 25 May 2009 to 20 May 2014; 16 May 2017 to 31 May 2019 |
| Niranjan Pujari | 26 May 2014 to 6 May 2017 |
| Surjya Narayan Patro | 1 Jun 2019 to 4 Jun 2022 |
| Bikram Keshari Arukha | 13 Jun 2022 to 12 May 2023 |
| Pramila Mallik | 22 Sep 2023 to 3 Jun 2024 |
| Incumbent | From 20 Jun 2024 |
Wikipedia counts 24 Speakers since 1937 including the incumbent.
Chief Justices of the Orissa High Court
Substantive Chief Justices from Wikipedia's list, from 1990; the first was Bira Kishore Ray (26 July 1948 to 30 October 1951), and earlier names are on Wikipedia. The incumbent is not named, and acting spells are not listed.
| Chief Justice | Tenure |
|---|---|
| B. L. Hansaria | 22 Feb 1990 to 13 Dec 1993 |
| G. T. Nanavati | 31 Jan to 27 Sep 1994 |
| V. A. Mohta | 28 Sep 1994 to 25 Apr 1995 |
| S. N. Phukan | 2 Aug 1996 to 27 Jan 1999 |
| Biswanath Agrawal | 18 Nov 1999 to 18 Oct 2000 |
| N. Y. Hanumanthappa | 17 Feb to 24 Sep 2001 |
| P. K. Balasubramanyan | 5 Dec 2001 to 10 Mar 2003 |
| Sujit Barman Roy | 9 Apr 2003 to 21 Jan 2007 |
| A. K. Ganguly | 2 Mar 2007 to 18 May 2008 |
| B. S. Chauhan | 16 Jul 2008 to 10 May 2009 |
| Bilal Nazki | 14 to 17 Nov 2009 |
| V. G. Gopala Gowda | 25 Mar 2010 to 23 Dec 2012 |
| C. Nagappan | 27 Feb to 18 Sep 2013 |
| A. K. Goel | 12 Oct 2013 to 6 Jul 2014 |
| Amitava Roy | 6 Aug 2014 to 26 Feb 2015 |
| D. H. Waghela | 4 Jun 2015 to 14 Feb 2016 |
| Vineet Saran | 26 Feb 2016 to 6 Aug 2018 |
| K. S. Jhaveri | 12 Aug 2018 to 4 Jan 2020 |
| Mohammad Rafiq | 27 Apr 2020 to 3 Jan 2021 |
| S. Muralidhar | 4 Jan 2021 to 7 Aug 2023 |
| Subhasis Talapatra | 8 Aug to 3 Oct 2023 |
| C. S. Singh | 7 Feb 2024 to 19 Jan 2025 |
Gaps between tenures were covered by acting Chief Justices, which we have not listed. Wikipedia numbers the incumbent, whose tenure began in March 2025, as the 35th.
For exam preparation
- The first Chief Minister under the Constitution was Harekrushna Mahatab, from 26 January 1950; before that, Krushna Chandra Gajapati was the first Premier of Orissa (1 April 1937).
- Naveen Patnaik was Chief Minister from 5 March 2000 to 12 June 2024, the longest tenure in the state's history.
- Biju Patnaik headed the government twice, in 1961 to 1963 and 1990 to 1995; Nandini Satpathy served twice, in 1972 to 1973 and 1974 to 1976.
- President's rule has been imposed six times; the longest was 3 March 1973 to 6 March 1974.
- The first Governor of the Orissa Province was John Austen Hubback (1 April 1936).
- Orissa's first Speaker was Mukunda Prasad Das (1937); the first Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court was Bira Kishore Ray (1948).
Political history and movements
Odisha's politics were shaped by the campaign for a separate Odia-speaking province, a long Congress period after Independence, a period of coalitions and regional parties, and the rise of the BJD, which gave the state its first regional party of lasting strength. This section tells what happened without judging parties.
Statehood and the Utkal movement
Before 1936, the Odia-speaking areas were spread over the Bengal Presidency, the Central Provinces, the Madras Presidency and the Bihar and Orissa Province. After the Nagpur Congress of December 1920, which asked for provincial committees on a language basis, a separate Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee was formed for the Odia-speaking tracts, with Gopabandhu Das as its first president (Wikipedia, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee page). The Utkal Union Conference was held at Chakradharpur around the same time. Wikipedia says the formation of the Committee gave a push to the demand for a separate province. The province of Orissa came into being on 1 April 1936, with its own Governor. The Utkal Sammilani of 1903 and the earlier phase of the movement are not covered by our sources. The first provincial Assembly sat from 3 February 1937, and after the Congress first declined office, a minority ministry under the Maharaja of Paralakhemundi held office from 1 April to 19 July 1937 before the Congress took over.
Prajatantra
The press mattered in Odisha's politics. Harekrushna Mahatab, a Congress leader and later Chief Minister, founded the Prajatantra Prachar Samiti and started the weekly Prajatantra at Balasore in 1923; it later became a daily (Wikipedia). The Samiti's wider role is not described in our sources.
Princely states and regional parties
The Ganatantra Parishad won 31 seats in 1952 and 51 in 1957 and joined a coalition in 1959 (Wikipedia, reported); the merger dates of the princely states were not confirmed. The Swatantra Party, founded in 1959, led the 1967 election with 49 seats and formed a coalition with the Orissa Jana Congress, formed in 1966 (the page dates it 1967 to 1969).
Coalitions and Utkal Congress, 1967 to 1980
The Praja Socialist Party had its best result in 1967 with 21 seats. The Utkal Congress (1969 to 1974) won 33 seats in 1971. President's rule was imposed four times between 1971 and 1980 (dates in the previous section), and the 1977 Janata wave gave the Janata Party 110 seats. The reasons for the individual dismissals are not confirmed in our sources.
The BJD era, 1997 to 2024
The BJD was founded on 26 December 1997 by Naveen Patnaik, son of Biju Patnaik (Chief Minister in 1961 to 1963 and 1990 to 1995), as a breakaway from the Janata Dal (Wikipedia). It allied with the BJP in 1998, and the two parties won the 2000 and 2004 Assembly elections together. Wikipedia says the BJD ended the alliance before the 2009 polls, citing communal violence in Kandhamal in 2008 and seat-sharing differences. The BJD won alone in 2009, 2014 and 2019. In 2024 it lost to the BJP.
The 1999 super cyclone
A cyclone made landfall on 29 October 1999 between Puri and Kendrapara with winds of about 260 km per hour (Wikipedia). The India Meteorological Department recorded 9,887 deaths; the state authority's figure, reported by OSDMA, is 8,962, and other estimates are higher. Twelve districts were severely hit. The Prime Minister allocated Rs 300 crore and a high-powered task force was set up under the Ministry of Defence. The state created OSDMA on 29 December 1999. The Chief Minister changed on 6 December 1999, five weeks after the cyclone; we did not confirm whether the two events were linked, and we do not suggest it.
Land, mining and tribal rights
Kalinganagar, 2006. On 2 January 2006 about 800 tribal people protested against land acquisition in the Kalinganagar industrial area in Jajpur district. Armed police fired, and Wikipedia reports 13 tribal people killed and more than 40 injured (some accounts give 12; reported). The agitators said land was taken by force or at low prices and that they had not been consulted.
Niyamgiri. In 2003 the state signed a memorandum with Vedanta for an aluminium refinery in Kalahandi, with bauxite to be mined from Niyamgiri hills, home to the Dongria Kondh. The Supreme Court gave clearance on 8 August 2008. On 18 April 2013 it ordered that the Dongria Kondh village councils (palli sabhas) decide, upholding the Forest Rights Act and the PESA Act. In July and August 2013 the councils consulted rejected the mining; Wikipedia says more than 112 palli sabhas in 12 villages did so (reported). In January 2014 the environment ministry banned mining at Niyamgiri, though the refinery at Lanjigarh was allowed to operate. The case is often cited in exams for free, prior and informed consent.
Orissa becomes Odisha, 2011
Demand for the change from Orissa to Odisha and Oriya to Odia was old. The state cabinet first approved it in June 2008 and the Assembly passed a resolution on 28 August 2008. The Orissa (Alteration of Name) Act, 2011 passed Lok Sabha on 9 November 2010 and Rajya Sabha on 24 March 2011, received the President's assent on 23 September 2011 and took effect on 1 November 2011 (Wikipedia). Section 3 substituted Odisha for Orissa, and Section 4 changed the proviso to Article 164(1). A companion constitutional amendment changed the Eighth Schedule language name from Oriya to Odia; we did not open it, so the number of the amendment is not given.
For exam preparation
- A separate Orissa province was created on 1 April 1936; the first provincial Assembly sat on 3 February 1937.
- The Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee was formed after the Nagpur Congress of December 1920, with Gopabandhu Das as first president.
- The Swatantra Party, founded in 1959, won 49 seats in 1967; the Ganatantra Parishad won 51 in 1957.
- The BJD was founded on 26 December 1997, and its alliance with the BJP lasted until before the 2009 polls.
- The super cyclone made landfall on 29 October 1999; OSDMA was created on 29 December 1999.
- Police firing at Kalinganagar on 2 January 2006 killed 13 tribal people (reported).
- The Supreme Court's Niyamgiri judgment was on 18 April 2013; the village councils rejected the project.
- The Orissa (Alteration of Name) Act, 2011 took effect on 1 November 2011.
Budget and governance
The latest budget is for 2026-27, presented on 20 February 2026 according to PRS Legislative Research, which we opened for this guide. The figures below are as on October 2026 and are budget estimates; check the state's finance department for revisions.
| Item | 2026-27 (Budget Estimate) |
|---|---|
| GSDP (projected) | Rs 11.07 lakh crore, growth of 12 per cent over the 2025-26 revised estimate |
| Per capita GSDP | Rs 2,10,186 |
| Total expenditure (excluding debt repayment) | Rs 2,88,000 crore, up 8 per cent |
| Total receipts (excluding borrowings) | Rs 2,49,200 crore, up 7 per cent |
| Net borrowings | Rs 25,800 crore |
| Revenue surplus | Rs 33,000 crore, 3 per cent of GSDP |
| Fiscal deficit | Rs 38,800 crore, 3.5 per cent of GSDP |
| Outstanding liabilities | 14.1 per cent of GSDP |
Headline allocations are education, sports and culture Rs 38,397 crore, social welfare and nutrition Rs 32,605 crore, rural development Rs 24,353 crore, health Rs 22,505 crore and roads and bridges Rs 21,468 crore. Capital outlay was raised 20 per cent to Rs 72,100 crore. The budget abolished the profession tax from 1 April 2026, at a reported revenue loss of Rs 320 crore, and kept the Subhadra Yojana, a cash transfer of Rs 10,000 a year to women, and the Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangal Yojana, which pays Rs 1,00,001 on completing graduation. The ministry that presented the budget is not named here, in line with our policy on office-holders. Our source gives a fiscal deficit of 3.5 per cent, which is above the 3 per cent ceiling that applies in the central framework; we have not confirmed whether the state has a separate or higher limit for the year.
For governance, we verified the creation of OSDMA in December 1999, the direct election of mayors and chairpersons in 2022, the State Election Commission and the Lokayukta, which are described above. We could not verify launch dates or coverage for the state's e-governance portals and citizen-service schemes, so they are not described here; check the state portal. Local bodies run under the Odisha Panchayat Acts and the municipal laws; the 2022 panchayat and urban polls are covered under Elections.
For exam preparation
- The 2026-27 budget was presented on 20 February 2026 (PRS); GSDP is projected at Rs 11.07 lakh crore.
- Fiscal deficit is 3.5 per cent of GSDP and the revenue account shows a surplus of 3 per cent (budget estimates).
- Total expenditure excluding debt repayment is Rs 2,88,000 crore.
- Education, sports and culture has the largest sector allocation at Rs 38,397 crore.
- The profession tax was abolished from 1 April 2026.
Economy
Odisha is a mineral-rich coastal state on India's east coast whose economy has grown faster than the national average in recent years, even though income per person is still below the all-India level. Mining and metals (iron ore, bauxite, chromite, coal, steel and aluminium) drive industry and, unusually, supply a large share of the state's own non-tax revenue. Farming, mostly rice on small rain-fed holdings, still employs far more people than it contributes to output. As on October 2026, the main figures below come from the PRS Legislative Research analysis of the 2026-27 budget; we did not open the Odisha Economic Survey itself.
Size, growth and income
| Indicator | Value | Source / note |
|---|---|---|
| GSDP, current prices, 2026-27 (budget projection) | About ₹11.07 lakh crore, up 12% over the 2025-26 revised estimate | PRS analysis of the 2026-27 budget |
| GSDP growth, 2025-26, constant prices | 7.9%, against 7.4% reported for India | PRS |
| Per capita GSDP, 2025-26 | ₹2,10,186, up 8.8% on the year before | PRS |
| Sector shares of output, 2023-24 | Agriculture and mining 21%, industry 43%, services 36% | Reported on a reference page; not checked against the Economic Survey |
"Current prices" means the value in that year's rupees, so part of any rise is inflation. "Constant prices" strips inflation out and is the figure used to compare real growth. Per capita GSDP is the state's output divided by its population; it is an average and says nothing about how evenly income is spread. We did not confirm a national ranking for per capita income, so none is stated here.
The sector split above groups mining with agriculture, which is how some state accounts present it. A reference page also reports that agriculture employs about 62% of the working population while producing only about 15 to 16% of output. That employment share is an older, reported figure and should be read as a sign of how many people depend on farming, not as a current statistic.
What drives the economy
- Minerals and metals. Odisha holds a very large share of India's iron ore, bauxite, chromite and coal (see the next section). Processing these locally into steel, alumina and aluminium is the core of the industrial economy.
- Mining revenue. In the 2026-27 budget, PRS records non-tax revenue of about ₹71,000 crore, of which about three-quarters (roughly ₹53,000 crore) comes from mining. This is why Odisha's finances depend on mineral prices and on auction and royalty policy.
- Agriculture and allied sectors. Rice dominates the cropped area, and the state is a significant shrimp producer; one reference page ranks it fourth nationally, which we treat as reported.
- Services. Bhubaneswar and Cuttack host IT parks, education, health services and government employment. Tourism, centred on Puri, Konark and Bhubaneswar, adds to this.
- Ports and coast. Paradip is a major port; Dhamra and Gopalpur are private or minor ports. They carry ore, coal, steel and alumina for export and coastal trade.
Public finances
The 2026-27 budget was presented on 20 February 2026. The figures below are PRS's analysis of the budget documents.
| Item (2026-27 budget estimate) | Value |
|---|---|
| Total expenditure (excluding debt repayment) | About ₹2,88,000 crore |
| Revenue receipts | About ₹2,48,500 crore |
| Fiscal deficit | 3.5% of GSDP (about ₹38,800 crore) |
| Revenue surplus | About 3% of GSDP (about ₹33,000 crore) |
| Outstanding liabilities | 14.1% of GSDP at end of 2026-27 |
| Own tax revenue | About ₹70,000 crore |
| Share in central taxes | About ₹67,460 crore |
| Grants from the Centre | About ₹40,040 crore |
A revenue surplus means the state's day-to-day income exceeds its day-to-day spending, which is rare among Indian states. Fiscal deficit is total spending (excluding debt repayment) minus total receipts (excluding borrowing). The fiscal responsibility law (FRBM) sets limits on deficit and debt; we did not verify the state's exact statutory targets, so they are not quoted. The same PRS note records that Profession Tax was abolished from 1 April 2026, at a reported revenue cost of about ₹320 crore a year.
Poverty and employment
We did not confirm the latest NITI Aayog multidimensional poverty index (MPI) figure for Odisha or the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey numbers, so neither is stated here. Check the latest NITI Aayog and Ministry of Statistics releases for these. A general point is safe: Odisha has a very large Scheduled Tribe population and several backward districts in the south and west, which is why the state has historically shown higher deprivation in these areas than on the coast.
For exam preparation
- Odisha's GSDP is projected at about ₹11.07 lakh crore for 2026-27 (PRS, current prices).
- Per capita GSDP for 2025-26 is reported at ₹2,10,186.
- The 2026-27 budget was presented on 20 February 2026 and projects a fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GSDP and a revenue surplus.
- About three-quarters of non-tax revenue comes from mining.
- Profession Tax was abolished with effect from 1 April 2026.
Agriculture, forests, minerals, industry and energy
Odisha is rich in rock and forest and relatively poor in irrigated land. Its minerals (iron ore, bauxite, chromite, coal, manganese and others) are the base of a large metals industry, and the Mahanadi basin supplies water and hydropower. Rice is the staple crop; forests cover a third or more of the state. This section covers farming, forests, minerals, industry and energy in that order. Shares of national reserves vary with the source and year, so ranges are given and marked as reported.
Agriculture
Rice is the dominant crop; one reference page puts it at about 77% of the cropped area, a reported figure. The year has two main seasons: kharif (monsoon-sown, harvested in autumn) and rabi (winter-sown). Most farms are small, and a large part of the area depends on the monsoon, so cyclones, floods and droughts can all hit the same year's crop. The state is divided by physical region into coastal plains (intensive rice and the Mahanadi delta), central tableland, northern plateau and the eastern ghats (millets, pulses, oilseeds and shifting cultivation traditions in tribal belts). We did not verify current production tonnages, so none are quoted.
Other crops and allied activities worth knowing: pulses and oilseeds (groundnut, mustard, sesame), jute and sugarcane in pockets, vegetables, coconut and cashew along the coast, turmeric in Kandhamal (the Kandhamal Haladi has a Geographical Indication tag), and fisheries and shrimp farming in coastal districts. The state promotes millets under a "millets mission"; we did not verify its targets.
State farmer-support schemes (the CM Kisan Yojana, formerly KALIA) are described under Government schemes.
Forests
India's State of Forest Report 2023 (as reported by Odisha media) puts Odisha's combined forest and tree cover at 37.63% of its geographical area of 1,55,707 sq km. The same reports say the state added about 559 sq km of forest and tree cover between 2021 and 2023, with forest cover alone rising by about 152 sq km, and that its forest cover grew by about 1,889 sq km over the decade 2013 to 2023. We did not open the report itself; treat these as reported figures.
The forests are mainly tropical moist and dry deciduous: sal in the north and east, teak and bamboo across the plateau, mangroves in the Mahanadi delta (Bhitarkanika) and coastal casuarina. Important forest produce includes kendu leaf (used for bidis), sal seed, mahua flowers and bamboo. Tribal communities in forest districts depend on this produce, which links forests to the Forest Rights Act and Fifth Schedule administration covered elsewhere on this page.
Odisha has about 2,000 elephants by the 2016 census (reported); human-elephant conflict is a recurring issue. Protected areas are covered in the Tourism section.
Minerals
Odisha is the leading Indian state for several minerals. The percentages below come from search summaries of Indian Bureau of Mines and state-government pages and differ between sources and years; use them as indicative ranges, not exact values.
| Mineral | Odisha's position (reported) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Chromite | About 96 to 98% of India's resources; the main producing state | Sukinda valley, Jajpur |
| Bauxite | About 51 to 59% of resources; about 71% of production | Eastern Ghats: Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Sundargarh |
| Iron ore | About 28 to 34% of resources; more than half of national production | Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj |
| Coal | About 24% of India's reserves | Talcher (Angul), Ib Valley (Jharsuguda, Sundargarh) |
Other minerals include manganese ore, dolomite, limestone, quartzite and graphite. Mining revenue from auctions and royalty is a large item in the state budget, as noted under Economy. Mining also has social costs: displacement, forest diversion, dust and legal disputes over lease areas. The Niyamgiri hills in Rayagada and Kalahandi became a national symbol of the conflict between bauxite mining and the Dongria Kondh, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG); we do not describe the legal sequence in detail because we did not verify it from a primary source.
Industry
Steel. The Rourkela Steel Plant in Sundargarh district, run by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), is one of the public-sector integrated steel plants built in the 1950s. It was set up with West German collaboration under a 1953 agreement with a consortium that included Krupp and Demag, and the first blast furnace was inaugurated on 3 February 1959 by the President. After the expansion of the early 2010s, capacity is reported at about 4.5 million tonnes a year. Private steel and sponge-iron clusters in Jajpur, Keonjhar, Angul, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh add to this; one reference page puts the state at about 10% of national steel capacity (reported). Several large investment announcements have been reported, but we do not list them because announced capacity is not installed capacity.
Aluminium. Odisha is India's leading aluminium state. The National Aluminium Company (NALCO) was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Bhubaneswar. It mines bauxite and runs an alumina refinery and a smelter and captive power complex in Odisha, with port operations at Visakhapatnam and Paradip. The Government of India held 51.28% of NALCO's equity on the reference page we opened. Vedanta runs an aluminium smelter at Jharsuguda and an alumina refinery at Lanjigarh; the reference page reports Lanjigarh's plan of 1.5 million tonnes of alumina a year with expansion toward 4 million tonnes depending on bauxite supply. We did not confirm current installed capacities, so only plans and ownership are given.
Other industry. Fertiliser, petrochemicals and refining are concentrated at Paradip (the Indian Oil refinery complex is reported there, which we did not verify), and Bhubaneswar and Cuttack host IT and engineering clusters. Handloom, handicraft and food-processing units are numerous but small and are covered in the Culture section.
Energy
One reference page gives installed power capacity of about 9,036 MW, of which about 6,753 MW was coal-fired and about 2,167 MW hydro; the figure is undated on the page and certainly out of date, so use it only to see the mix, in which coal dominates and hydro is second. The coalfields of Talcher and Ib Valley feed thermal plants nearby.
The Hirakud Dam is the state's best-known power and irrigation project. It is built across the Mahanadi near Sambalpur. The reference page gives a total length of about 25.8 km including dykes, with a main section of about 4.8 km, a height of about 61 metres, and a reservoir of about 743 sq km at full level. Construction began in 1946 and Jawaharlal Nehru formally inaugurated the dam on 13 January 1957. Installed hydropower capacity is reported at 347.5 MW. Hirakud is described as the longest earthen dam in the world. The project displaced about 22,000 people by one account, which is reported. Its purposes are flood control, irrigation and power. Solar and wind additions exist but we did not verify their size.
For exam preparation
- Odisha holds almost all of India's chromite, mainly in the Sukinda valley of Jajpur district.
- Odisha is the leading bauxite producer and the leading iron-ore state; the main coal areas are Talcher and Ib Valley.
- Rourkela Steel Plant, set up with West German collaboration, began on 3 February 1959; it is run by SAIL.
- NALCO (est. 1981) is headquartered in Bhubaneswar; Vedanta's smelter is at Jharsuguda and its refinery at Lanjigarh.
- Hirakud Dam on the Mahanadi was inaugurated on 13 January 1957 and is described as the longest earthen dam in the world.
- State of Forest Report 2023 (as reported) gives forest and tree cover of 37.63% of the state's area.
Transport and infrastructure
Odisha's transport is built around the coastal rail and road corridor between Kolkata and Chennai, spurs inland to the mining belt, and a set of ports that move ore and coal. A growing number of regional airports connect the interior. This section covers rail, roads, air, ports and basic infrastructure.
Railways
The East Coast Railway (ECoR) zone came into existence on 3 April 2003, with its headquarters at Bhubaneswar. A reference page lists three divisions: Khurda Road, Sambalpur and Rayagada, the last carved from the former Waltair division (the foundation stone was reported as laid on 6 January 2025). The zone covers almost all of Odisha plus parts of Chhattisgarh (Bastar region) and Andhra Pradesh. It is reported at about 5,214 route km, of which about 2,677 km are electrified, on broad gauge with 25 kV AC electrification. These counts change as projects finish; the 2003 creation date and Bhubaneswar headquarters are the stable facts.
The Kolkata-Chennai main line runs through coastal Odisha (Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road, Brahmapur). A second corridor serves Sambalpur, Jharsuguda and Rourkela on the Howrah-Mumbai route, which falls under neighbouring zones in part. Coal, ore and steel are the main freight.
Roads
The state has several national highways along the coast and into the mining belt, and some stretches are being widened to four lanes. We did not verify total national or state highway length, so no kilometre figure is given. The Kolkata-Chennai corridor (NH 16) is the main coastal artery; check the latest National Highways Authority data for length and projects. Roads in the southern tribal districts such as Malkangiri, Koraput and Kandhamal are often single-lane and slow, and "connectivity for unconnected habitations" appears as a budget item (about ₹1,000 crore in 2026-27 per PRS).
Airports
| Airport | Place | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Biju Patnaik International Airport | Bhubaneswar | Opened 17 April 1962, the first commercial airport in the state; named after a past Chief Minister. Handled over 4.8 million passengers in 2024-25 (reported) with a few international routes |
| Veer Surendra Sai Airport | Jharsuguda | Upgraded to domestic operations in May 2018 (reported) |
| Rourkela Airport | Rourkela | Operational December 2022 (reported); regional flights to Bhubaneswar |
| Jeypore Airport | Koraput region | Regional |
| Rangeilunda | Brahmapur (Ganjam) | Listed on a reference page |
| Utkela | Bhawanipatna (Kalahandi) | Listed on a reference page |
The same reference page says the state has three operational airports, 16 airstrips and 16 helipads; operational status shifts as new regional-connectivity routes start and stop, so check the latest Airports Authority of India data.
Ports
Odisha has a coastline of about 485 km on the Bay of Bengal.
| Port | District | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Paradip | Jagatsinghpur | The state's only major port, at the confluence of the Mahanadi and the sea. Opened on 12 March 1966 and declared a major port on 18 April 1966; first major port commissioned on the east coast after independence. Handled a reported 150.41 million tonnes in 2024-25 |
| Dhamra | Bhadrak | Private port; first vessel arrived 8 February 2010; first commercial vessel 10 April 2011; Adani Ports took it over in June 2014. Draft about 17.5 m; reported about 43 million tonnes in 2023-24 |
| Gopalpur | Ganjam | Minor port; we did not verify its present operator, depth or cargo |
| Subarnarekha | Balasore | Minor port; not verified further |
A "major port" is administered by the central government under the Major Port Authorities Act; "minor" ports come under the state maritime board.
Other infrastructure
Bhubaneswar has grown into the state's institutional and IT centre, with several new campuses on its outskirts. Urban water, sewerage and power networks are best covered by the latest Economic Survey and Smart Cities data, which we did not open. Rural piped water falls under the Jal Jeevan Mission; the 2026-27 budget reports a separate state allocation of about ₹800 crore for rural piped water supply.
For exam preparation
- East Coast Railway was formed on 3 April 2003 and is headquartered at Bhubaneswar.
- Paradip is Odisha's only major port; Dhamra is a private port in Bhadrak district.
- Biju Patnaik International Airport at Bhubaneswar opened on 17 April 1962.
- Rourkela Airport became operational in December 2022 (reported).
- Odisha's coastline is about 485 km.
Culture, tribes and heritage
Odisha's culture is shaped by three strands: the Jagannath tradition that ties together Puri, the Odia language and much of everyday religion; a classical temple and dance heritage that grew under the Eastern Ganga and earlier dynasties; and a large tribal population with its own languages, crafts and festivals. The state's crafts and foods are among the best documented by Geographical Indication (GI) tags in India. This section covers language, tribes, performing arts, festivals, food, crafts and art.
Languages and literature
Odia (Oriya) is the official language along with English, and Odia is written in its own curved script, which is suited to writing on palm leaf. A reference page puts Odia at about 45% of the population as mother tongue, followed by Kui/Kondh at about 10% and Santali at about 9% (census-based, reported). Other tribal languages include Ho, Saora, Gondi and Koya.
Key literary names, all historical: the 15th-century poet Sarala Das, whose Odia Mahabharata is reported at about 152,000 verses; Upendra Bhanja, a major poet of the Riti-yuga (court-style) period; Jayadeva, the 12th-century author of the Gita Govinda associated with the Jagannath temple and the Odissi repertoire; Fakir Mohan Senapati, who pioneered modern Odia fiction; Radhanath Ray and Gangadhar Meher in the 19th-century modern period; and later writers such as Gopinath Mohanty, whose novels won the Jnanpith, and Sitakant Mahapatra. We verified only Sarala Das and Fakir Mohan Senapati on a reference page; the other names are standard in Odia literary history but should be checked before they are asked as one-line answers.
Tribes of Odisha
Odisha has one of the largest tribal populations in India. A reference page reports 64 notified Scheduled Tribes (Census 2011 data: about 9.6 million people, about 22.8% of the population, third largest in India by number); older sources count 62, and two communities (Muka Dora and Konda Reddy) were reported as added in 2024, so confirm the current list with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Thirteen groups are listed as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), which are the least developed and often smallest communities.
| Tribe | Where and what to know |
|---|---|
| Kondh (Kandha) | Largest group, about one million; mainly Kandhamal and the southern districts; speak Kui |
| Santal | More than 800,000, mainly Mayurbhanj; speak Santali, written in Ol Chiki script (general knowledge) |
| Gond | Western districts; large across central India |
| Saora (Saura) | South: Gajapati, Rayagada; Lanjia Saora is a PVTG known for wall paintings |
| Ho | Over 100,000, in the north |
| Bhuyan | Keonjhar, Sundargarh; Paudi Bhuyan is a PVTG |
| Juang | Keonjhar and Dhenkanal; a PVTG linked to a shifting-cultivation past |
| Bonda | Malkangiri hills; a PVTG with a distinct language |
| Dongria Kondh | Niyamgiri hills; a PVTG known for embroidered shawls |
The 13 PVTGs include Birhor, Bondo, Didayi, Juang, Kutia Kondh, Lanjia Saora and Mankidia (verified on a reference page) and, to our knowledge, Dongria Kondh and Paudi Bhuyan; we did not verify the remaining names. Large parts of the state fall under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which sets up special administration for tribal areas. Schools and hostels for tribal children, including the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Bhubaneswar, are discussed under Education.
Classical dance and music
Odissi. Odissi is one of India's classical dances and traces to the temples of Odisha. The theory goes back to the Natya Shastra, and carvings at the Manchapuri cave in Udayagiri (Bhubaneswar) show dancers and musicians from around the first or second century BCE, as per a reference page. Two traditions fed it: the Maharis, female temple dancers who performed songs from the Gita Govinda for the deity at Puri, and the Gotipuas, boys dressed as girls who danced at festivals. The colonial government banned temple dancing in 1910 (reported), and the art was reconstructed after independence by scholars and gurus; one reference page says it won recognition as a classical form in the 1950s, but we did not verify the precise year. A full recital runs in a set order: Mangalacharana (invocation), Batu (pure dance), Pallavi (melodic elaboration), Abhinaya (expressive dance) and Moksha (the closing). Kelucharan Mohapatra, a past guru, is regarded as the central figure of the modern revival; Sanjukta Panigrahi was a leading exponent. These are historical names and widely documented.
Chhau. Chhau is a martial and mask-based dance from Mayurbhanj, where it is performed without masks in the local form, and from neighbouring regions. It is a tribal-martial tradition that draws on epic stories. Classification details differ by region.
Other forms. Pala is a form of balladry that combines theatre, Odissi music, poetry and humour; Jatra is rural folk opera; Daskathia is a form of narrative song with wooden clappers; Sambalpuri and Dalkhai are the dances of the western region; and Ghumura is a drum dance of Kalahandi. We verified Pala and Jatra; the others are standard but unverified here.
Festivals
| Festival | When and what |
|---|---|
| Rath Yatra | Ashadha (June-July); chariots of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra pulled from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple, about 3 km; the return is the Bahuda Yatra |
| Snana Yatra | Before the Rath Yatra; the deities' ceremonial bathing, followed by a fifteen-day retirement (Anasara) |
| Nabakalebara | Years when lunar months align (8, 12 or 19 years); new images of the deities installed; the 2015 event drew over three million devotees (reported) |
| Raja Parba | Mid-June; a festival of the monsoon's arrival and of womanhood (general knowledge) |
| Nuakhai | Western Odisha; the new-rice festival (general knowledge) |
| Kartika Purnima / Bali Jatra | Cuttack, November; remembers the sea trade with South-East Asia (general knowledge) |
| Konark Dance Festival and Chandrabhaga Mela | Held at Konark; the Chandrabhaga pilgrimage fair is around February |
| Ashokastami | Bhubaneswar; Lingaraj's chariot procession to Rameswar temple |
Rasagola Dibasa on 30 July is observed in the state (reported).
Jagannath tradition
The Jagannath Temple at Puri is one of the four Char Dham pilgrimage sites (with Rameswaram, Badrinath and Dwarka) and the centre of Odia religious life. Tradition credits its first founding to a legendary king, Indradyumna; the present complex was built from the late 11th century onwards under the Eastern Ganga ruler Anantavarman Chodaganga, with construction reported from after 1112 CE to around 1161 CE. The main tower rises to about 65 metres. The deities are wooden images, renewed at Nabakalebara. The Gajapati king performs the Chhera Pahanra, sweeping the chariot platform, as a symbol of equality before the deity. The temple kitchen cooks 56 vegetarian offerings (mahaprasad) without onion or garlic, and is described as among the largest in the world. The three chariots are Nandighosa (Jagannath), Taladhwaja (Balabhadra) and Darpadalana (Subhadra).
Cuisine
Odia food is mostly rice-based and mild. Pakhala (fermented rice with water, often eaten with curd in summer), dalma (lentils cooked with vegetables), chhena poda (a baked cottage-cheese sweet), and the many sweets made of chhena are staples. The Pahala rasagola, made at Pahala between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, is the best-known Odia sweet. Odisha received a GI tag for "Odisha Rasagola" on 29 July 2019, after West Bengal had received a GI for "Banglar Rasogolla" on 14 November 2017; the two GI registrations recognise two distinct varieties. The Odisha claim is that the sweet evolved from khira mohana, offered at the Jagannath Temple from about the 12th century; the Bengal claim credits Nobin Chandra Das around 1868. The origin question is disputed, so say "disputed" in any answer.
Handicrafts, painting and GI tags
- Pattachitra. Cloth-based scroll painting of Puri and Raghurajpur, with bright mineral and natural colours, depicting Jagannath and epic scenes. It has a GI tag.
- Sambalpuri ikat (Bandha). A tie-dye weaving tradition of the western districts. "Sambalpuri Bandha Saree and Fabrics" holds a GI tag; other Odisha textiles include Khandua.
- Dhokra and Tarakasi. Dhokra is lost-wax brass casting by tribal craftspeople; Tarakasi is silver filigree, associated with Cuttack.
- Stone carving and applique. Stone carving at Konark and Puri is a living tradition; appliqué work from Pipili is used for temple umbrellas and canopies.
- Recent GI tags (reported for 2025). Lanjia Saura painting, Dungaria Kondh embroidered shawl, Dhenkanal Magji (a sweet), Mayurbhanj Kai chutney (made with red weaver ants), Nayagarh Kanteimundi brinjal, Koraput Kalajeera rice and Gajapati date-palm jaggery. A search summary counts 28 registered Odisha GI tags; we could not open the official register, so the count is reported only. Kandhamal Haladi (turmeric) received its GI certificate on 1 April 2019.
Temple architecture
Odisha's temple style is called Kalinga or Nagara-Odisha architecture. A typical temple has a tall curved tower (the deula or rekha deula) over the sanctum, a pyramid-roofed assembly hall (jagamohana) and often a dance hall and offering hall. Bhubaneswar has hundreds of temples of this style and is called the temple city. The Lingaraja Temple is attributed to the Somavamsi dynasty (11th century) with later additions of the Ganga period, rises to about 55 metres, and is dedicated to Shiva as Lingaraja (Harihara in local tradition). The Konark Sun Temple is of about 1250 CE (Narasimhadeva I, Eastern Ganga) and is built as a stone chariot with 24 wheels and seven horses.
For exam preparation
- Odissi originated in the temples; the Maharis and Gotipuas are its two early traditions.
- Odisha Rasagola received a GI tag on 29 July 2019; the Banglar Rasogolla tag was 14 November 2017.
- The Rath Yatra chariots are Nandighosa, Taladhwaja and Darpadalana.
- Nabakalebara occurs when lunar months align, every 8, 12 or 19 years; the last was 2015.
- Odisha's Scheduled Tribe population is about 22.8% (Census 2011); the Kondh are the largest group.
- Pattachitra and Sambalpuri Bandha have GI tags; Kandhamal Haladi's GI certificate is dated 1 April 2019.
Tourism and places of interest
Odisha's tourism rests on its temples, coast, wildlife and tribal districts. The Golden Triangle of Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark carries the most visitors, while Chilika, Bhitarkanika and Similipal draw nature tourists. One site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Konark), three are notable protected wetlands or biosphere areas, and many monuments are looked after by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
| Place | District | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Konark Sun Temple | Puri | UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984; ASI-protected; Eastern Ganga, about 1250 CE |
| Jagannath Temple | Puri | One of the Char Dham; Rath Yatra |
| Lingaraja Temple | Khordha (Bhubaneswar) | Shiva temple of the 11th century; part of Bhubaneswar's temple cluster |
| Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves | Khordha | Rock-cut caves, with the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela (general knowledge) |
| Dhauli | Khordha | Near the traditional battle site of the Kalinga war (261 BCE); Ashokan rock edict and peace pagoda (general knowledge) |
| Chilika Lake | Puri, Khordha, Ganjam | Largest brackish-water lagoon in India; Ramsar site (1981) |
| Bhitarkanika | Kendrapara | Mangroves; saltwater crocodiles; Ramsar site (19 August 2002) |
| Gahirmatha | Kendrapara | Beach and marine sanctuary east of Bhitarkanika; olive ridley turtle nesting |
| Similipal | Mayurbhanj | Tiger reserve, biosphere reserve, national park |
| Hirakud | Sambalpur | Dam and reservoir; see the Industry section |
| Cuttack | Cuttack | Largest city; Barabati Fort; Bali Jatra; filigree |
UNESCO, Ramsar and protected areas
Konark. The temple was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1984. It was built by Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty about 1250 CE. The main tower, reported at about 61 to 70 metres, collapsed in 1837, and the surviving 39-metre audience hall (jagamohana) is the main standing structure. European sailors called it the Black Pagoda. An on-site ASI museum shows fallen sculptures.
Chilika Lake. Chilika lies across Puri, Khordha and Ganjam. It is the largest brackish-water lagoon in India and one of the largest in the world, with a reported area of about 1,105 sq km (a reference page lists this area). It was among the first two Indian wetlands listed under the Ramsar Convention, in 1981. It was placed on the Montreux Record in 1993 for ecological degradation and removed in 2002 after restoration, which a reference page calls the first removal for an Asian Ramsar site; a new mouth was opened in 2000. It supports over 225 bird species, with about two million migratory birds in peak season (reported), and a population of Irrawaddy dolphins, reported at about 152. Nalabana island, the Kalijai temple and Rambha Bay are the best-known spots.
Bhitarkanika. The national park (about 145 sq km, notified 16 September 1998) sits inside the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary (about 672 sq km, 1975) and became a Ramsar site on 19 August 2002, the state's second. It has India's second-largest mangrove system by the source we opened and a large saltwater crocodile population, reported at about 1,671 animals in the source. The Gahirmatha marine sanctuary adjoining the coast hosts mass olive ridley nesting. A different reference page gives 650 sq km for the park, which conflicts with the 145 sq km; the 145 sq km figure is for the core national park, so we use it.
Similipal. Similipal in Mayurbhanj is about 2,750 sq km. It became a tiger reserve in May 1973, a wildlife sanctuary in 1979 and a national park in 1980; it was made a biosphere reserve in 1994 and joined UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves in May 2009. It has Joranda Falls (about 181 m) and Barehipani Falls (about 217 m). A large share of its tigers show a dark, pseudo-melanistic pattern. By the source we opened, two female tigers were brought from Tadoba in 2024 to add genetic diversity.
Other places
Puri beach and the Gundicha temple; Pipili for appliqué; Raghurajpur, a heritage craft village for Pattachitra; the Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri Buddhist sites (the so-called Diamond Triangle, a general reference not verified here); Gopalpur-on-Sea; Satkosia gorge on the Mahanadi; Daringbadi in Kandhamal; and the tribal markets of Koraput and Rayagada. Check the Odisha Tourism site for current opening hours and permits for forest areas.
For exam preparation
- Konark Sun Temple was inscribed by UNESCO in 1984.
- Chilika was listed under Ramsar in 1981 and removed from the Montreux Record in 2002.
- Bhitarkanika became a Ramsar site on 19 August 2002.
- Similipal became a tiger reserve in 1973 and a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 2009.
- Gahirmatha beach is a major olive ridley turtle nesting site.
Education, health, sports and personalities
Odisha has built a large higher-education hub in Bhubaneswar, with national institutes of science and engineering and a public medical institute, alongside older universities in Cuttack and Sambalpur. Literacy is close to the national average and the gap is wide between coastal and tribal districts. Hockey is the state's sporting identity. This section covers education, health, sport and notable people.
Education
Literacy. Census 2011 reports literacy of about 73%; a reference page gives 73.5% and notes the national figure as 74.04%. We did not verify the second-decimal value. A later survey figure of 79.0% in 2024 appears on one reference page and is not checked, so treat it as reported.
Universities and institutes.
| Institution | Place | Facts |
|---|---|---|
| Utkal University | Bhubaneswar | The state's first university, founded 1943 (reported as the 17th oldest in India) |
| IIT Bhubaneswar | Argul, Khordha | Founded 2008, one of eight new IITs of that year |
| AIIMS Bhubaneswar | Bhubaneswar | Established 2012; inaugurated 26 February 2014 (reported) |
| NISER | Jatni, Khordha | Founded 6 September 2007; autonomous institute under the Department of Atomic Energy; a constituent of Homi Bhabha National Institute |
| NIT Rourkela | Rourkela | Founded 1961, one of the country's older engineering institutes |
| KIIT | Bhubaneswar | Started in 1992 as a training institute, deemed university in 2004; founder is a private educationist |
| KISS | Bhubaneswar | A residential school and deemed university for tribal students (not further verified) |
| Ravenshaw University | Cuttack | Grew from a 19th-century college; Cuttack Zilla School dates from 1866 (reported) |
Other major institutions include IIM Sambalpur, the National Law University Odisha in Cuttack, Sambalpur University, the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology in Bhubaneswar, and SCB Medical College in Cuttack. We did not verify founding dates for these, so none is given. Odisha also has the Central University of Odisha at Koraput (stated from general knowledge, unverified here).
Education history includes the ancient Buddhist centre of Puspagiri in the Jajpur region, mentioned by the Chinese traveller Xuanzang, as per a reference page.
Out-of-school children remain an issue; one reference page cites about 1.87 lakh children aged 6 to 14 out of school, a dated figure that we quote only to indicate scale.
Health
AIIMS Bhubaneswar is the leading public hospital, inaugurated with 978 beds in 2014 (reported; another figure gives about 920 including private and disaster beds). Under the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY scheme, health coverage of up to ₹5 lakh a family a year is reported. We did not verify current NFHS-5 indicators for the state (infant mortality, institutional births, stunting), so none are stated; check the NFHS-5 state factsheet. Tribal districts such as Malkangiri and Kandhamal have historically had higher child and maternal health risks than the coast, and seasonal diseases such as malaria remain a concern in forest areas (general statement).
Sports
Hockey is the identity of Odisha sport. The Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar opened in 1978, with its foundation stone laid by Biju Patnaik, a past Chief Minister; the athletics and football stadium is reported at 15,000 seats and the hockey stadium at 16,000. It hosted the 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup, matches in the 2023 FIH Men's Hockey World Cup and several FIH Pro League matches. The state has long sponsored the Indian national hockey teams (reported on the reference page as hosting a high-performance centre), and Rourkela's Birsa Munda stadium also hosted matches in 2023 (we did not verify the capacity). Many Indian hockey internationals come from the tribal belt of Sundargarh district, such as Dilip Tirkey and Lazarus Barla; we did not open a source for their records, so only their names are given as historical figures. Other well-known athletes include the sprinter Dutee Chand and the sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik, who is known for his Puri beach sculptures and received a Padma award.
Notable people
| Person | Field | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Fakir Mohan Senapati | Literature | Pioneer of modern Odia fiction |
| Sarala Das | Literature | 15th-century poet of the Odia Mahabharata |
| Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das | Public life | Freedom fighter, editor and social reformer (general knowledge, not opened) |
| Madhusudan Das | Public life | Lawyer and leader of the Utkal movement for a separate province (general knowledge) |
| Biju Patnaik | Public life, aviation | Past Chief Minister; the Bhubaneswar airport and the Kalinga Stadium foundation are linked to him |
| Kelucharan Mohapatra | Odissi | Leading guru of the modern revival |
| Sanjukta Panigrahi | Odissi | Pioneering exponent |
| Dutee Chand | Athletics | National sprinter |
| Dilip Tirkey | Hockey | Former India defender |
Awards and honours: Odisha has produced Jnanpith winners in literature (Gopinath Mohanty is one; we did not verify the full list), and the state has instituted awards named for its literary and cultural figures. We did not verify a list of state awards, so none are given.
For exam preparation
- Utkal University (1943) is Odisha's first university.
- IIT Bhubaneswar began in 2008; NISER in 2007; AIIMS Bhubaneswar in 2012.
- NIT Rourkela dates from 1961.
- Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, hosted the 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup.
- KIIT became a deemed university in 2004.
Government schemes
Odisha's present flagship schemes fall into three groups: cash support for women, income and input support for farmers, and health insurance. This section avoids minister names, and amounts are as reported as on October 2026 and may change; check the latest government order and the state scheme portals.
| Scheme | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Subhadra Yojana | Cash support to eligible women aged 21 to 60 | ₹50,000 over five years (2024-25 to 2028-29), paid as ₹10,000 a year in two instalments of ₹5,000 (Rakhi Purnima and 8 March); excluded groups include taxpayers and people already receiving certain benefits; reported on third-party pages. Budget 2026-27 allocation about ₹10,145 crore (PRS) |
| CM KISAN Yojana (formerly KALIA) | Income support to farmers | KALIA began in 2018 and was renamed CM KISAN on 8 September 2024; small and marginal farmers get ₹4,000 a year from the state, on top of ₹6,000 from PM-KISAN, and landless households ₹12,500 for livelihoods (reported on non-official pages; not verified) |
| Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY and the state health scheme | Hospital-treatment cover for families | Up to ₹5 lakh per family per year is reported; the state's Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana is said to have merged with PM-JAY but we could not confirm the exact structure |
| Samrudha Anganwadi Yojana | Anganwadi upgrades | 2026-27 allocation about ₹635 crore (PRS) |
| Jal Jeevan Mission | Rural piped water | 2026-27 allocation about ₹7,000 crore (PRS) |
A budget allocation is the amount set aside, not what an individual receives, and eligibility rules are set by the department's notification. Central schemes such as PM-KISAN, Ayushman Bharat and the Jal Jeevan Mission also run in the state, and the budget lists the state's share. We did not verify other state schemes (pensions such as Madhu Babu Pension, "Mo Bus", the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana and student schemes) from an official source, so none is described here.
For exam preparation
- The Subhadra Yojana targets women aged 21 to 60 with ₹50,000 over five years (reported).
- KALIA, launched in 2018, was renamed CM KISAN in September 2024 (reported).
- PM-JAY covers up to ₹5 lakh per family per year (reported).
- The 2026-27 budget gives about ₹10,145 crore to the Subhadra Yojana (PRS).
Government exams in Odisha
Government recruitment in Odisha is split across several bodies. The Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) selects officers for Group A and B services. The Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC) runs graduate, post-graduate, technical and higher-secondary level exams. The Odisha Sub-ordinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSSC) handles district-cadre Group C posts. Police and other uniformed posts are moving to a new body, the Odisha Uniformed Services Staff Selection Commission (OUSSSC). Teachers come through the School and Mass Education side, and the Orissa High Court recruits its own staff. Vacancy numbers, dates and age limits change with each notification, and several figures below come from secondary exam sites that disagree with each other, so treat every number as a pointer and check the latest notification. We do not yet have Odisha exam guide pages on Pareeksha, so for now use the Odisha government jobs page and the online test series. For a state with a similar recruitment layout, see our guides to Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh.
Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC)
OPSC was constituted on 1 April 1949 and has its headquarters at Cuttack. Like every state commission, it rests on Articles 315 to 323 of the Constitution. Its website lists Odisha Civil Services (OCS), civil judge posts in the Odisha Judicial Service, medical officers, assistant professors and a range of technical and administrative posts.
The OCS exam has three stages. The scheme below is from Drishti IAS; another source quotes different mains marks, so check the notification.
| Stage | What it is (reported) |
|---|---|
| Prelims | Two objective papers of 200 marks each, two hours each, both General Studies. One-third of the marks of a question is deducted for a wrong answer. Paper II is qualifying at 33%. Prelims marks do not count towards the final merit. |
| Mains, Part I | Odia language and English language papers of 250 marks each. These are qualifying, with a minimum of 25% in each. |
| Mains, Part II | Seven merit papers of 250 marks each: Essay, General Studies I to IV, and two Optional papers. This is 1,750 marks. |
| Interview | Personality test of 250 marks. Mains merit plus interview is 2,000 marks. |
Cycle details from secondary sources: the OCS 2025 notification (Advt. No. 05 of 2025-26) is reported to have been issued on 31 December 2025, with applications from 20 January to 27 February 2026 and a prelims tentatively on 7 June 2026. It first advertised 314 posts, of which 104 were reserved for women, and the state later asked the commission to add 151 posts (14 in the Odisha Administrative Service, 113 in the Odisha Revenue Service, 16 in the Odisha Transport Service and 8 in the Odisha Welfare Service), reported as taking the total to 465. The OPSC website still carried OCS 2025 as a headline item when we looked on 4 October 2026, but we could not confirm whether the prelims or mains have been held, or the result dates.
The OCS 2025 age limit is reported as 21 to 42 by one source and 21 to 38 by another, so we give no single figure; see the age section below.
Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC)
OSSC, which describes itself as a public sector undertaking under the General Administration and Public Grievance Department, conducts combined exams by level. The OSSC home page, as on 4 October 2026, listed these recruitments:
| Exam | Advertisement (per OSSC site) | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Combined Graduate Level Recruitment Examination (CGLRE) 2025 | No. 5751, dated 12 December 2025 | Group B and C posts such as Inspector of Supplies, Junior Assistant and Auditor (reported) |
| Combined Post Graduate Level (CPGLRE) 2025 | No. 5915, dated 30 December 2025 | Group B specialist posts |
| Combined Higher Secondary (10+2) Level, specialist posts, 2025 | No. 728, dated 2 March 2026 | Specialist posts and services |
| Combined Technical Services (CTSRE) 2025 | No. 5925, dated 30 December 2025 | Technical posts, mainly Junior Engineer (Civil) with a diploma qualification (reported) |
Sources disagree on vacancy counts: for the CGL, 1,576 in one and 577 in another; for the CTSRE, 646 and 743. We give no count. The reported CGL scheme is a prelims of 150 questions in 150 minutes with 0.25 negative marking, a mains (General Studies, English and Odia, plus a computer skill test for some posts) and certificate verification, with a bachelor's degree and computer knowledge required.
OSSC's earlier Combined Recruitment Examination (CRE) 2025, Advt. No. 1744 dated 3 April 2025, covered 74 posts of Junior Stenographer, Junior Grade Typist and Typist-cum-Scribe Assistant (reported). Its prelims was an OMR test on 27 July 2025, followed by a mains, a physical standard test and certificate verification.
Odisha Sub-ordinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSSC)
OSSSC became functional on 1 November 2012 under the Odisha Sub-ordinate Staff Selection Commission (District Cadre) Rules, 2012. Its own About page says it recruits to district-level Group C civil posts under 24 departments. Its posts include Revenue Inspector (RI), Assistant Revenue Inspector (ARI), Amin, Statistical Field Surveyor (SFS), ICDS Supervisor, Village Agriculture Worker, Junior Assistant, Forester, Forest Guard and Excise Constable.
As on 4 October 2026, the OSSSC site showed:
- Counselling for choice of post and district for RI, ICDS Supervisor, ARI, Amin and SFS under CRE-2023(IV), with several document verification notices.
- A physical test notice dated 1 October 2026 for Forester, Forest Guard and Excise Constable under CRE-2025(II).
The CRE-2025 notification is reported to have been released on 30 December 2025, and the written test was reported for 16 April to early May 2026. Vacancy numbers differ by source: one site gives 3,250 posts for the non-forest posts and another gives 5,012, plus 1,518 for forest and excise. We do not give totals. For Forester and Forest Guard, one source reports 943 posts (896 and 47); the 1,518 figure appears to include Excise Constables.
Pattern as reported for CRE-2025(II): one objective paper of 100 marks and 90 minutes, 0.25 negative marking, minimum 30% for reserved and 35% for other categories. Candidates are shortlisted at about 3:1 for the physical standard and efficiency tests (a 25 km walk for men and 16 km for women for Forest Guard), then about 1.25 times the vacancies go to document verification. For RI, JA, ARI, Amin, SFS and similar posts, the reported scheme is a computer-based objective test followed by a basic computer skill test (40% to qualify, non-scoring). Reported qualifications: a bachelor's degree for RI and Junior Assistant, Class 12 or a technical diploma for ARI and Amin.
Police and uniformed services (OUSSSC)
This area changed recently. The Odisha cabinet approved the Odisha Uniformed Services Staff Selection Commission in November 2025, after a controversy over sub-inspector recruitment and alleged paper leaks. News reports say the former Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) was dissolved, its scrapped sub-inspector process was handed to the new body, and the commission is meant to recruit constables, sepoys, fire service staff and other lower-ranked uniformed personnel for police, forest, excise and transport departments. It functions under the General Administration and Public Grievance Department under rules framed in 2025. We do not name the commission's office-holders.
The OPRB advertisement of January 2025 covered 933 posts: 609 Sub-Inspector, 253 Sub-Inspector (Armed), 47 Station Officer (Fire Service) and 24 Assistant Jailor (reported). A report of 2 July 2026 says the OUSSSC had assured an exam by October 2026; we could not confirm a date. One secondary site lists 7,664 posts for 2026 (300 Constable Communication, 2,212 OISF Constable, 4,219 Civil Constable and 933 SI), with the detailed notification still pending, so treat that as unconfirmed.
Qualification and age for constable posts differ across sources (Class 10 in one, Class 12 with Odia as a subject in another), so we state neither. The reported selection stages for police are a written test, physical standard and efficiency tests, medical examination and document verification.
Teacher recruitment: OTET and OSEPA
Teacher eligibility is tested by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) Odisha through the Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (OTET). Paper I is for classes 1 to 5 and Paper II for classes 6 to 8. Each paper is reported as 150 multiple-choice questions of one mark, in 2 hours 30 minutes (one source says three hours), with no negative marking. The general qualifying mark is 60% (90 of 150). For SC, ST, SEBC and disabled candidates, sources give 55% (83) or 50% (75). On validity, the state is reported to have made the OTET certificate valid for life, while older pages say seven years.
Recruitment runs through the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA). In 2023 it invited applications for 20,000 Junior Teacher (Schematic) posts, from 13 September to 10 October 2023, with selection by a computer-based test. For 2026, a secondary site reports a short notice for 15,000 or more posts across elementary, mother-tongue-based multilingual education, graduate and special educator posts, with the full notification expected in January 2026. We could not confirm the full notification, vacancy numbers or dates. Check osepa.odisha.gov.in.
Orissa High Court
The High Court at Cuttack recruits its own staff under the High Court of Orissa (Appointment of Staff and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2019. We opened its Advertisement No. 05/2025, dated 4 September 2025, for 25 Junior Stenographer posts (Group C, Level 7, pay Rs 25,500 to 81,100): 8 SC, 12 ST and 5 SEBC, with 9 of these for women. A bachelor's degree, 80 words per minute shorthand, 40 wpm typing and computer knowledge were required, and the age limit was above 21 and below 32 on 4 September 2025. The selection scheme was an English qualifying test (100 marks), a computer application test (100 marks, 50% to qualify) and a shorthand and typing skill test. The English test includes Odia-to-English translation and back.
For exam preparation
- OPSC was constituted on 1 April 1949 and sits at Cuttack.
- The OCS prelims has two General Studies papers of 200 marks, with Paper II qualifying at 33%.
- The OCS mains has qualifying Odia and English papers and seven merit papers of 250 marks, plus a 250-mark interview.
- OSSC runs CGL, CPGL, CTSRE and 10+2 level exams; OSSSC runs district Group C posts such as RI, ARI, Amin and Forest Guard.
- The Odisha Uniformed Services Staff Selection Commission now handles police and other uniformed posts, replacing the OPRB.
- OTET is conducted by BSE Odisha and Junior Teacher recruitment by OSEPA.
Domicile, reservation and recruitment rules
Residence, language and reservation rules sit in the 1975 reservation Act, government resolutions and each notification. Below is what we could verify; where we could not open the rule, we say so.
Domicile, residence and the Odia language
We did not find an official Odisha order that sets a general "Odisha resident" rule for all state jobs, and we did not open a domicile-certificate order. Secondary sources say residency and Odia proficiency are mandatory for district-cadre Group C and D posts. For OCS, one source says the candidate must read, write and speak Odia, and the exam includes a qualifying Odia language paper in the mains. One constable-eligibility page says Odia must appear on the candidate's mark sheet, and the High Court Junior Stenographer test includes Odia-English translation. Treat the Odia requirement as real for most posts and read the "eligibility" clause of each notification for what proof is needed.
Reservation in state posts
The Orissa Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Act, 1975 (Odisha Act 38 of 1975) is the base law for SC and ST reservation, with Rules in 1984 and amendments in 1988, 1992 and 1993 listed on the PRS copy. The percentages, as stated in a government resolution we opened:
| Category | Share of direct recruitment |
|---|---|
| Scheduled Castes | 16.25% |
| Scheduled Tribes | 22.5% |
| Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) | 11.25% |
| Total of the three | 50% |
The SEBC share has a history. The Odisha Reservation of Posts and Services (SEBC) Act, 2008 provided 27%, but the Odisha Administrative Tribunal quashed it on 12 December 2013 because the total would cross 50%. In Resolution No. 17025 dated 24 June 2014, the ST and SC Development Department fixed SEBC at 11.25% as an interim measure until the High Court decides the challenge (W.P. (C) No. 7504 of 2014). Reports of January 2023 and May 2025 still state 11.25%. We did not confirm a final ruling or later change.
Economically weaker sections: the central scheme gives 10% to EWS candidates not covered by SC, ST or SEBC reservation, with an income test. A general summary says Odisha has also applied it, but we did not open Odisha's own resolution for state posts, so we do not give the percentage as a confirmed state figure.
Women: a reported policy gives women 33% of posts, applied within each category (a horizontal reservation). The two documents we opened fit that pattern. In the High Court notification above, 9 of 25 posts were for women, spread over each category (SEBC 2, ST 4, SC 3), unfilled women's posts pass to men of the same category, and SC and ST posts are not exchanged. In OCS 2025, 104 of 314 original posts were for women. The 2026 Odisha State Public Universities (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act (Act 4 of 2026, assented to on 9 April 2026 and deemed in force from 30 January 2026) applies state reservation to direct recruitment of teachers in state public universities, treating each university as one unit.
Age limit and relaxation
On 28 May 2025, news reports say the state raised the general upper age limit for entry into government jobs from 32 to 42 years. It does not apply to uniformed services such as police, fire, forest and excise, or to posts with their own higher limits, and extra relaxation is promised for ST, SC, SEBC, women, ex-servicemen and disabled candidates. One summary also lists civil services as excluded, while OCS 2025 is reported with a 42-year limit, so confirm in your notification. The High Court notification above, using the older limit of 32, shows how relaxations are applied: 5 years for SC, ST, SEBC and women, 10 years for disabled candidates (40% to 50% disability), 15 years if disabled and in a reserved category, and only one benefit if you fall in more than one group. A 3-year relaxation was reported for some police recruitment in 2025, applicable to some petitioners only.
Stages and vacancy cycles
Group A and B posts run as prelims, mains and interview (OPSC). OSSC and OSSSC posts usually run a computer-based or OMR test followed by a mains or skill test and document verification, with a computer skill test for clerical and field posts. Police and forest posts add physical tests. Vacancies follow no fixed calendar; plan around the syllabus rather than a date.
For exam preparation
- SC 16.25%, ST 22.5% and SEBC 11.25% total 50% of direct recruitment.
- The 2008 SEBC Act (27%) was quashed on 12 December 2013, and 11.25% was fixed as an interim measure in June 2014.
- The base reservation law is Odisha Act 38 of 1975.
- Women are reported at 33%, applied within each category.
- The general upper age limit was reported raised from 32 to 42 on 28 May 2025, excluding uniformed services.
- Odia is mandatory or tested for most posts.
How to use this guide for exam preparation
The state sections of this page carry most of the Odisha GK marks in General Studies papers. Read them in the order below.
High-yield sections
- Geography and Administration and districts: rivers, lakes, national parks, districts, divisions, area and coastline. Questions are factual and repeatable.
- History: the Kalinga war, the temples at Puri and Konark, the formation of the separate province on 1 April 1936 and later changes.
- How the state is governed and Legislature, Parliament and judiciary: the number of Vidhan Sabha seats, the High Court's seat and date, and the constitutional bodies, which are structural facts that do not change.
- Culture, tribes and heritage and Tourism: dance, festivals, handicrafts, GI tags and sites.
- Economy, Agriculture and minerals, Government schemes: recent-data questions; note the as-on date on each figure.
- Demography: Census 2011 figures such as literacy and sex ratio, which exam setters still use.
A four-week plan
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Land and people | Geography, districts and divisions, demography. Memorise the rapid-fire table below once. |
| 2 | History and culture | History, culture and heritage, tourism. Make one-line notes per place or art form. |
| 3 | Government and economy | Governance, legislature, economy, agriculture and minerals, schemes. Check each as-on date. |
| 4 | Practice and recall | Take timed tests in the online test series, review the FAQ here, and revise the rules of the exam you are applying for. |
Our Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh guides follow the same layout if you are comparing states.
Common traps
- Treating secondary figures as final. Vacancy counts differ between exam sites. The notification is the only source of truth.
- Using old body names. The OPRB has been replaced for police recruitment, and a Staff Selection Commission is not the same as the Sub-ordinate Staff Selection Commission.
- Ignoring Odia. The OCS mains has a qualifying Odia paper, and many posts expect Odia on your mark sheet or in the test.
- Confusing the three bodies' posts. OSSC is graduate and technical, OSSSC is district Group C, OPSC is Group A and B.
- Missing reservation arithmetic. SC, ST and SEBC add to 50% and women's seats sit inside each category.
Rapid-fire facts
Each row below was checked in a source we opened. Exam figures marked "reported" come from secondary sites.
| Fact | Answer |
|---|---|
| Odisha became a separate province | 1 April 1936 |
| Foundation day name | Utkal Divas (Utkala Dibasa), 1 April |
| Capital | Bhubaneswar |
| Area | 155,707 sq km |
| Coastline | 485 km |
| Population, Census 2011 | 41,974,218 |
| Sex ratio, Census 2011 | 979 females per 1,000 males |
| Urban population share (Census 2011) | 16.68% |
| Official languages | Odia and English |
| Districts (as on October 2026, per Wikipedia) | 30 |
| Revenue divisions | 3 |
| Northern division headquarters | Sambalpur |
| Central division headquarters | Cuttack |
| Southern division headquarters | Berhampur (Brahmapur) |
| Newest districts listed | Boudh and Deogarh, formed 2 January 1994 |
| Largest district by area | Mayurbhanj, 10,418 sq km |
| Smallest district by area | Jagatsinghpur, 1,759 sq km |
| Most populous district (Census 2011) | Ganjam, 3,529,031 |
| Least populous district (Census 2011) | Debagarh, 312,520 |
| Vidhan Sabha strength | 147 seats |
| Renamed from Orissa to Odisha | 2011 |
| Kalinga war | 261 BCE |
| Jagannath temple, Puri (reconstruction) | c. 1135 |
| Konark temple built | c. 1250 |
| Chilika Lake | 1,105 sq km brackish lagoon |
| Simlipal National Park | 2,750 sq km |
| Bhitarkanika National Park | 650 sq km |
| Rivers named in the state profile | Subarnarekha, Budhabalanga, Baitarani, Brahmani, Mahanadi, Rushikulya |
| State animal | Sambar deer |
| State bird | Indian roller |
| State tree | Sacred fig |
| State flower | Asoka |
| High Court seat | Cuttack |
| High Court inaugurated | 26 July 1948 |
| Patna High Court circuit court at Cuttack | 18 May 1916 |
| High Court sanctioned strength (Wikipedia, 2022 notification) | 33 (24 permanent, 9 additional) |
| OPSC constituted | 1 April 1949 |
| OPSC headquarters | Cuttack |
| Constitutional articles for state commissions | 315 to 323 |
| OCS prelims papers | Two, 200 marks each, 2 hours each |
| OCS prelims negative marking | One-third of the question's marks |
| Qualifying prelims paper | Paper II, 33% |
| OCS mains qualifying papers | Odia and English, 250 marks each, 25% minimum |
| OCS mains merit papers | Seven of 250 marks (1,750) |
| OCS interview marks | 250 |
| OCS 2025 advertisement number | 05 of 2025-26 |
| OCS 2025 notification date (reported) | 31 December 2025 |
| OCS 2025 application window (reported) | 20 January to 27 February 2026 |
| OCS 2025 original posts (reported) | 314, of which 104 for women |
| Additional OCS posts sought by the state (reported) | 151 |
| OCS 2021 candidates recommended (as on December 2023) | 432 |
| OSSSC became functional | 1 November 2012 |
| OSSSC recruits | District Group C civil posts under 24 departments |
| OSSSC CRE-2025(II) posts | Forester, Forest Guard, Excise Constable |
| Forest recruitment written test (reported) | 100 marks, 90 minutes |
| Negative marking in CRE and CGL (reported) | 0.25 per wrong answer |
| Forest Guard qualifying marks (reported) | 30% reserved, 35% others |
| Forest Guard walking test (reported) | 25 km men, 16 km women |
| Shortlist ratio for physical test (reported) | About 3 to 1 |
| Computer skill test in CRE (reported) | Qualifying at 40%, non-scoring |
| OSSC CGLRE-2025 advertisement | No. 5751, 12 December 2025 |
| OSSC CPGLRE-2025 advertisement | No. 5915, 30 December 2025 |
| OSSC CTSRE-2025 advertisement | No. 5925, 30 December 2025 |
| OSSC 10+2 level (specialist) advertisement | No. 728, 2 March 2026 |
| OSSC CRE 2025 advertisement | No. 1744, 3 April 2025 (74 posts, reported) |
| CGL prelims (reported) | 150 questions, 150 marks, 150 minutes |
| Police recruitment body | Odisha Uniformed Services Staff Selection Commission |
| OUSSSC approved by cabinet | November 2025 |
| Body it replaced for police | Odisha Police Recruitment Board |
| OUSSSC administrative control | General Administration and Public Grievance Department |
| OPRB 2025 SI-level advertisement (reported) | 933 posts |
| OPRB 2025 Sub-Inspector posts (reported) | 609 |
| OPRB 2025 Sub-Inspector (Armed) posts (reported) | 253 |
| OTET conducting body | Board of Secondary Education, Odisha |
| OTET papers | Paper I (classes 1 to 5), Paper II (classes 6 to 8) |
| OTET format (reported) | 150 MCQs, 150 marks, no negative marking |
| OTET general qualifying mark (reported) | 60%, i.e. 90 of 150 |
| OSEPA Junior Teacher (Schematic) 2023 | 20,000 posts |
| Junior Teacher 2023 application window | 13 September to 10 October 2023 |
| Junior Teacher 2023 selection | Computer-based test |
| High Court Junior Stenographer advertisement | No. 05/2025, 4 September 2025, 25 posts |
| High Court Junior Stenographer pay | Rs 25,500 to 81,100, Level 7 |
| High Court shorthand and typing speeds | 80 wpm and 40 wpm |
| High Court computer test qualifying mark | 50% |
| Odisha reservation Act for SC and ST | Odisha Act 38 of 1975 |
| SC share in state posts | 16.25% |
| ST share in state posts | 22.5% |
| SEBC share in state posts | 11.25% (interim, 24 June 2014 resolution) |
| Combined SC, ST and SEBC | 50% |
| SEBC Act quashed by the Odisha Administrative Tribunal | 12 December 2013 (the 2008 Act gave 27%) |
| Upper age limit raised from 32 to 42 (reported) | 28 May 2025, excluding uniformed services |
| High Court age relaxation | 5 years SC/ST/SEBC/women; 10 years disabled |
| University teachers reservation Act | Odisha Act 4 of 2026, assented 9 April 2026 |
Frequently asked questions
Which bodies conduct government exams in Odisha?
OPSC for Group A and B services, OSSC for graduate, technical and post-graduate exams, OSSSC for district Group C posts, OUSSSC for police and uniformed posts, BSE Odisha for OTET, OSEPA for school teacher recruitment and the High Court for its own staff.
What is the OCS exam pattern?
Reported scheme: two 200-mark objective prelims papers (Paper II qualifying at 33%), a mains with qualifying Odia and English papers and seven merit papers of 250 marks, and a 250-mark interview. Confirm in the notification.
Is Odia compulsory for Odisha government jobs?
For most posts it is required or tested. OCS has a qualifying Odia paper, and some posts expect Odia on your mark sheet. Check each notification.
Do I need an Odisha domicile certificate to apply?
We could not confirm a single rule. Some district-cadre posts reportedly need residency, and others do not state it. Read the eligibility clause of the notification.
What is the reservation in Odisha state jobs?
SC 16.25%, ST 22.5% and SEBC 11.25%, which total 50%, according to a 2014 government resolution. The notification's vacancy table gives your category's numbers.
Is there EWS reservation in Odisha state jobs?
The central 10% EWS scheme exists, and a general summary says Odisha applies it, but we did not open Odisha's resolution. Check the vacancy table.
How much reservation do women get?
A 33% share is reported, applied within each category. The High Court notification we opened gave women 9 of 25 posts, and OCS 2025 gave 104 of 314.
What is the age limit for Odisha government jobs?
News reports say the general upper limit was raised from 32 to 42 years on 28 May 2025, but not for uniformed services. Reserved categories, women and disabled candidates get further relaxation. Check your notification, as sources differ for OCS.
Who conducts Odisha Police recruitment now?
The Odisha Uniformed Services Staff Selection Commission, which replaced the Odisha Police Recruitment Board after the sub-inspector recruitment was scrapped over alleged irregularities.
What is OSSC CRE?
OSSC's Combined Recruitment Examination. The 2025 round was reported for 74 posts of Junior Stenographer, Junior Grade Typist and Typist-cum-Scribe Assistant. OSSSC's CRE is a different exam, for district Group C posts.
What is the difference between OSSC and OSSSC?
OSSC runs state-level combined exams by qualification, while OSSSC recruits district-cadre Group C posts such as Revenue Inspector, Amin and Forest Guard.
What is the OTET?
The Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test, conducted by BSE Odisha. Paper I is for classes 1 to 5 and Paper II for classes 6 to 8, each of 150 marks, with no negative marking.
How long is an OTET certificate valid?
Reported as lifetime under a state decision, though older pages say seven years. Confirm with the Board.
Does the Orissa High Court recruit non-judicial staff separately?
Yes, under its own 2019 staff rules. Its 2025 Junior Stenographer notification had 25 posts and a qualifying English, computer and skill test. Civil judge posts are advertised by OPSC.
Where can I practise for Odisha exams?
Use the Odisha government jobs page for notices and the online test series for timed practice.
Sources and verification
Time-sensitive facts (budget, exam rules, district count, recruitment cycles) were checked on 4 October 2026. Where sources disagreed or a figure came from a single secondary source, the text says so. Election figures are Wikipedia reproductions of Election Commission data, with the 2026-27 budget from PRS Legislative Research; cross-check Election Commission results before quoting a number in an answer. Census 2011 is the latest published census.
Facts verified on 4 October 2026. Many exam figures come from secondary exam sites and are marked "reported". Where sources disagreed, the text gives both figures or leaves the fact out.
Official and primary pages opened:
- OPSC website (opsc.gov.in), home page and About page.
- OSSC website (ossc.gov.in), home page and About page.
- OSSSC website (osssc.gov.in), home page and About page.
- Orissa High Court Advertisement No. 05/2025 (orissahighcourt.nic.in), Junior Stenographer.
- ST and SC Development Department, Government of Odisha, Resolution No. 17025 dated 24 June 2014 (Odisha Gazette), on SEBC reservation.
- Government of Odisha, ST and SC Development Department, reservation policy page (list of Acts and Rules).
- Odisha Act 38 of 1975 (PRS copy, first page only) and Odisha Act 4 of 2026 (PRS copy).
News and exam sites opened:
- OrissaPOST report on SI aspirants and the commission (2 July 2026).
- OdishaBytes reports on the OUSSSC chairperson appointment (14 March 2026), the 42-year age limit and SI age relaxation.
- Careers360 pages on OCS 2025, OTET and the Junior Teacher recruitment of 2023, and the OCS additional-posts report (3 January 2026).
- Drishti IAS, OPSC exam pattern page and OCS 2025 blog.
- Physics Wallah pages on OSSC CGL, OSSSC CRE, OSSSC Forest Guard, Odisha Police 2026 and constable eligibility.
- Scroll, OSSC CRE 2025 registration announcement.
- The Quint (24 January 2023) and Odisha Plus (15 May 2025), on the SEBC share.
- OnlineResult, Odisha teacher recruitment 2026 page.
- Wikipedia, as a cross-check only: Odisha Public Service Commission, Odisha, Orissa High Court and List of districts of Odisha.