Why Global Companies Should Consider Odisha
The case for Odisha as a business destination goes beyond cost arbitrage. It's about access to minerals, port infrastructure, a large and underutilised talent pool, and a government that is actively competing for investment. Here is the full case.
Founder, Majhi Group & Majhi OS
Every conversation I have had with international investors and company leaders about building in India has started in the same place: Bengaluru. Sometimes Mumbai. Occasionally Hyderabad. Never Odisha.
I have been building from Odisha, and placing leadership talent into companies across India and internationally, long enough to know that the default consideration set is not wrong. It is just incomplete. And the gap between the default and the full picture is where the interesting opportunities sit.
Most global companies thinking about India default to established positions: Bengaluru for technology, Mumbai for financial services, Delhi NCR for corporate headquarters, Chennai for manufacturing. These are legitimate positions built on real advantages that have compounded over decades. Odisha is not in that set. It should be, not for all companies, but for a specific and growing subset whose business is shaped by natural resources, manufacturing, eastern trade routes, or the need for talent at a cost structure the established hubs can no longer provide.
The manufacturing case
For companies building industrial manufacturing operations in India, Odisha offers a combination that is difficult to find elsewhere on the subcontinent.
Raw material access. If your manufacturing inputs include iron ore, steel, aluminium, chromite, coal, or chemicals derived from these, Odisha's proximity to the primary resource base is a direct operational advantage. The transport cost and supply chain complexity of moving bulk materials from mine to manufacturing facility is real and significant at scale. Locating production adjacent to the resource removes this.
Industrial land availability. The Kalinganagar industrial corridor, the Gopalpur industrial park, and several other industrial estates provide large contiguous land parcels for manufacturing development at costs well below comparable facilities in Maharashtra or Karnataka. The state government's investment promotion infrastructure actively facilitates land acquisition and permitting for qualifying investments.
Power and ports round out the picture.
Power availability. Odisha has significant power generation capacity from thermal plants, and a growing renewable base. Industrial power supply is generally reliable and priced competitively relative to western Indian states that import more of their power.
Port access. The combination of Paradip (large bulk volumes) and Dhamra (deep water, diverse cargo) on the Bay of Bengal gives manufacturing operations in Odisha efficient export access to Southeast Asian and East African markets, trade routes that are growing in strategic importance as Indian manufacturing scales.
The technology services case
For companies establishing technology services operations in India, development centres, shared services, BPO, or AI services, the standard calculus has been Bengaluru, Hyderabad, or Pune. Bhubaneswar deserves to be in that evaluation.
Cost structure. Salary, real estate, and operational costs in Bhubaneswar are significantly below Bengaluru and Hyderabad. As India's established tech hubs have seen sustained wage inflation driven by intense competition for senior talent, the cost differential has grown. For operations that require significant headcount at the mid-level, services delivery, training, data operations, quality assurance, the savings compound quickly.
Technical talent supply. Bhubaneswar's catchment area for technical talent includes KIIT (30,000+ students), IIT Bhubaneswar, IIIT Bhubaneswar, NIT Rourkela (a short flight away), and numerous other engineering institutions. The supply of technical graduates is large relative to current local employer demand, which means attrition is lower, recruitment is easier, and the talent pipeline is less competitive than in established hubs.
Infrastructure adequacy. For knowledge work operations, Bhubaneswar has adequate infrastructure: reliable power, fast internet, modern office space at reasonable cost, and an airport with direct services to major Indian metros. It is not Bengaluru's quality, but it is sufficient for most operations, and the gap is narrowing.
The supply chain case
Companies that are reassessing their supply chain geography, whether for cost, resilience, or geographic diversification reasons, are increasingly looking at eastern India. Odisha's position within this is distinctive.
Proximity to Southeast Asia. Bay of Bengal shipping routes connect Odisha's ports to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, and Myanmar more efficiently than routes from western Indian ports. As India-ASEAN trade grows under bilateral agreements and as companies diversify supply chains away from China, eastern India's proximity to these markets is a genuine advantage.
Mineral supply chain anchoring. For industries where the critical supply chain dependency is on primary materials, steel, aluminium, chemicals, locating operations in Odisha pins the supply chain to one of the most secure raw material sources in South Asia. This is a resilience argument as much as a cost argument.
Labour cost sustainability. Eastern India's labour cost advantage is likely to be more durable than that of the established manufacturing corridors, where wages have been rising quickly. The demographic structure of Odisha's workforce, large, young, relatively undersupplied with high-quality formal employment, suggests that the labour cost differential will persist for a longer period than in states further along the development curve.
What global companies find when they look
The companies that have invested in Odisha, Tata Steel, JSW, Posco, Vedanta, NALCO, Infosys, Wipro, have found what they found when they looked. The question is why more companies haven't looked.
The answer is visibility and inertia. Odisha doesn't appear in the standard investor conversations that focus on established hubs. The companies that made early investments in what are now established hubs benefited from first-mover advantages. The companies that look seriously at Odisha now have a similar opportunity, lower entry costs, less competition for land and talent, and a government that is actively motivated to make their investment successful.
The case for Odisha is not that it is better than the established alternatives across the board. It is that for specific operations, industrial manufacturing, eastern trade supply chains, technology services at scale, Odisha offers a combination of advantages that deserve serious evaluation. Companies willing to do that evaluation rather than defaulting to the standard India playbook will find something worth looking at.
The companies that made early investments in what are now established hubs benefited from first-mover advantages. The companies that look seriously at Odisha now have a similar opportunity - lower entry costs, less competition for land and talent, and a government actively motivated to make their investment successful.
See also: Beyond GDP: What a Developed Odisha Must Be Answerable For, Bhubaneswar: Can It Become an AI City?, The Biopharma Gap Eastern India Hasn't Noticed
Sources
India Brand Equity Foundation: Odisha State Profile: Investment and Business Environment
McKinsey Global Institute: India's Turning Point: An Economic Agenda for the Decade
World Bank: Doing Business in India: Ease of Business Climate
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the specific manufacturing case for Odisha that goes beyond generic cost arguments?
Four concrete advantages for industrial manufacturers. Raw material access: if manufacturing inputs include iron ore, steel, aluminium, chromite, or chemicals derived from them, proximity to Odisha's resource base eliminates the transport cost and supply chain complexity of moving bulk materials from mine to facility, a real and significant savings at scale. Industrial land: the Kalinganagar corridor, Gopalpur industrial park, and other estates provide large contiguous parcels at costs well below comparable facilities in Maharashtra or Karnataka, with active state government facilitation of acquisition and permitting. Power: significant thermal capacity plus growing renewable base at competitive industrial pricing. Port access: Paradip for large bulk volumes, Dhamra's deep water for diverse cargo, direct export routes to Southeast Asian and East African markets that are growing in strategic importance as Indian manufacturing scales.
What is the technology services case for Bhubaneswar relative to established hubs like Bengaluru and Hyderabad?
Three things the standard evaluation misses. Cost structure: salary, real estate, and operational costs in Bhubaneswar are significantly below Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and as India's established hubs have seen sustained wage inflation from intense competition for senior talent, the differential has grown. For operations requiring significant mid-level headcount (services delivery, training, data operations), the savings compound quickly. Technical talent supply: KIIT's 30,000+ students, IIT Bhubaneswar, IIIT Bhubaneswar, NIT Rourkela, a large supply of technical graduates relative to current local employer demand, which means lower attrition, easier recruitment, and a less competitive talent market than established hubs. Infrastructure adequacy: for knowledge work operations, Bhubaneswar has reliable power, fast internet, modern office space, and direct airport connections to major metros, sufficient for most operations, with the gap to Bengaluru narrowing.
Which companies have already invested in Odisha and what does that tell prospective investors?
Tata Steel, JSW, Posco, Vedanta, NALCO, Infosys, and Wipro have all invested in Odisha, and found what they found when they looked. The fact that these companies have committed significant capital is evidence that the conditions are real, not aspirational. The question is why more companies haven't looked. The answer is visibility and inertia: Odisha doesn't appear in standard investor conversations that start in Bengaluru, Mumbai, or Hyderabad. Companies that made early investments in what are now established hubs benefited from first-mover advantages, lower entry costs, less competition for land and talent, government motivated to make their investment successful. The companies looking seriously at Odisha now have an analogous opportunity. The case is not that Odisha is better than established alternatives across the board, it's that for specific operations, it offers a combination that deserves serious evaluation.
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