Bhubaneswar: The Odisha govt is promoting the state as a global destination for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) and wedding tourism as it attracted investment intent worth Rs 8,155 crore at the Utkarsh Odisha – Make in Odisha Conclave 2025 on Wednesday for luxury hotels, resorts, adventure and amusement parks, convention centres, cruise and water sports projects.
“Odisha has huge potential in tourism as it offers a unique blend of cultural heritage, natural beauty and modern amenities, but we never marketed them and preserved them as India’s best-kept secret. We decided to promote Odisha as a preferred destination for the MICE and destination weddings segment. Besides, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for ‘concert tourism’, we are planning to set up infrastructure to host big concerts that can give a boost to tourism. This is the perfect time for further investment in the state’s tourism sector,” deputy chief minister Pravati Parida said.
Parida ensured the investors that there will be no bottlenecks in starting of their projects at any level.
Highlighting the industrial ecosystem in Odisha, chief secretary Manoj Ahuja said the govt is strongly committed to ensuring ease of doing business in line with the ambitious Viksit Odisha Vision 2036. “The tourism sector, which has immense potential to generate significant employment opportunities, is a top priority for the state. Our efforts are also being refined to make the sector more investor-friendly, fostering growth and development,” Ahuja added.
Notably, Rs 2,387 crore was pledged for the development of 23 resort projects across regions like Koraput, Gajapati, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Puri, Khurda, Bhadrak and Balasore, while 47 hotel projects secured investment commitments totalling Rs 3,792 crore across Puri, Sambalpur, Paradip, Gopalpur, Ganjam and Bhubaneswar. As many as 30 motel and wayside amenities centres projects attracted investments worth Rs 246 crore, enhancing infrastructure for improved tourist services.
Innovative and adventure tourism segments have also gained traction, as nine water sports and cruise projects in Puri, Khurda, Chilika, Sundargarh and Cuttack received investment intentions amounting to Rs 554 crore and four adventure sports initiatives secured Rs 23 crore in investments in Koraput and Sundargarh. Additional focus on multi-utility hospitality centres led to commitments worth Rs 1,060 crore. With growing interest in caravan and camping tourism, the state garnered investments worth Rs 58 crore and Rs 2.95 crore, respectively.
Tourism secretary Balwant Singh said, “Odisha tourism has earmarked 5,570 acres of investible land in the 15 priority destinations and is in the process of verification and acquisition progress.”
Odisha tourism signed an MoU with the National Council of Science Museums for enriching the state’s cultural tourism by developing new museums and interpretation centres.