Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Cabinet on Saturday approved a proposal to amend the Odisha Development Authority (ODA) Act, 1982, paving the way for the establishment of Economic Region Development Authorities (ERDAs) to oversee the planned development of large urban and industrial corridors across the state.
The proposed Odisha Development Authorities (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to create a statutory framework for constituting and administering Economic Region Development Authorities, enabling coordinated planning and governance of multi-district economic regions. The amendment is aligned with the state’s Vision 2036 and Vision 2047 roadmap, which identifies urbanisation as a key driver of economic growth.
Under the proposal, the legislation will introduce definitions of “Economic Region” and “Economic Region Development Authority” into the ODA Act and insert a new Chapter IIA, empowering the state government to notify and establish ERDAs without requiring fresh legislation for each new economic region.
Officials said the move is aimed at facilitating integrated planning beyond municipal boundaries by preparing region-specific economic and master plans. The framework is expected to help attract investments, generate employment, improve housing, strengthen urban mobility, enhance public services and ensure coordinated infrastructure development across interconnected urban centres.
As part of its long-term urban development strategy, Odisha has identified several economic agglomerations for phased development, including the Bhubaneswar-Kataka-Puri-Paradeep Economic Region (BKPPER), Bargarh-Jharsuguda-Sambalpur, Berhampur-Chhattrapur-Gopalpur and Jeypore-Koraput-Sunabeda.
The Bhubaneswar-Kataka-Puri-Paradeep Economic Region has already been selected as a pilot project, with an economic development plan prepared in collaboration with NITI Aayog. The region integrates ports, industrial clusters, urban centres, logistics infrastructure and major religious and cultural destinations into a unified economic corridor.
The state government said the institutional framework is necessary to ensure seamless coordination among multiple development authorities operating within a single economic region and to enable integrated governance of large urban corridors.
The proposal also comes after the Union Budget 2026-27 identified four City Economic Regions as engines of economic growth in the country. The Bhubaneswar-Kataka-Puri-Paradeep Economic Region is among the four selected regions, alongside Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Surat in Gujarat and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
Once the Odisha Legislative Assembly approves the amendment bill, the Bhubaneswar-Kataka-Puri-Paradeep Economic Region is expected to become the state’s first Economic Region Development Authority under the new legal framework, marking a significant step towards integrated urban and industrial planning in Odisha.
