Bhubaneswar: The state cabinet chaired by chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday approved amendments to the Odisha Development Authorities (ODA) Act, 1982, to facilitate the establishment of Economic Region Development Authorities (ERDAs) in the state.Chief secretary Anu Garg said the Odisha Vision 2036 & 2047 – Viksit Odisha for Viksit Bharat envisages urbanisation as a key driver of economic growth and proposes the planned development of city agglomerations as integrated economic corridors with modern infrastructure, employment hubs, efficient mobility and coordinated service delivery.Odisha has identified several such urban agglomerations, including the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri-Paradip Economic Region (BCPPER), Bargarh-Jharsuguda-Sambalpur, Berhampur-Chhatrapur-Gopalpur and Jeypore-Koraput-Sunabeda clusters, besides others to be developed in phases. An economic plan for BCPPER has already been prepared as a pilot project in collaboration with NITI Aayog.To ensure effective governance of such regions, the state proposes to create an overarching statutory framework that can oversee multiple development authorities and ensure seamless coordination among them. Accordingly, Economic Region Development Authorities (ERDAs) will be constituted.Preparation of region-specific economic and master plans for these agglomerations will enable planning beyond municipal boundaries, leverage the complementary strengths of constituent urban centres, attract investment, generate employment, and improve housing, mobility, public services and overall quality of life.Garg noted that the Union Budget 2026-27 has recognised four City Economic Regions as engines of economic growth, with BCPPER included alongside Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Surat (Gujarat) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).The Odisha Development Authorities (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to provide a comprehensive statutory framework for the constitution, powers and functioning of ERDAs for coordinated and integrated development of economic regions across the state. The amendment introduces definitions of “Economic Region” and “Economic Region Development Authority” under Section 2 of the Act and inserts a new Chapter IIA.The proposed chapter will empower the state govt to notify and constitute future ERDAs without requiring separate legislation on each occasion.Describing it as a major step towards transforming Odisha’s urban and industrial landscape, the govt said the amendment would create a durable and scalable framework for governing multi-district economic corridors. Once the bill is cleared by the Odisha Assembly, BKPPER, which integrates ports, industrial hubs, urban centres, religious and cultural destinations, and logistics networks into a unified economic geography, will become the state’s first City Economic Region.
