Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati addresses the House during the first day of the state Assembly’s Budget session, in Bhubaneswar, on February 17, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Odisha aims to increase the State’s contribution to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 3% to 5%, with average annual growth rising from 7% to 9.5% through reforms in investment, execution, and technology adoption, said Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati on Tuesday (February 17, 2026).
Delivering his inaugural address in the budget session of Odisha Legislative Assembly, Mr. Kambhampati presented State’s strong economic fundamentals and planned massive infrastructure proposals that would give push for further momentum to economic growth.
“The State targets raising per capita income from Rs 1.8 lakh to Rs 32 lakh by 2047, improving living standards, reducing multidimensional poverty to 5%, increasing female labour force participation to 70%, raising life expectancy beyond 80 years and eliminating anaemia and malnutrition, in alignment with India’s Vision and global best practices,” he said.
“Under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central government’s recent approvals for mega-projects in Odisha reflect strong confidence in the State’s future and will unlock significant socio-economic benefits. The approval of the ₹8,300 crore for Rameshwar–Paradip Coastal Highway and 6-lane access-controlled Greenfield Capital Region Ring Road (Bhubaneswar Bypass), with an investment of about ₹8,308 crore, would surely improve connectivity,” said Odisha Governor in his address.
“The Odisha State Road Policy, 2025 has been implemented to create a high-quality road network for seamless movement of people and goods, while the Odisha State Highway Authority Act, 2025 has been promulgated to fast-track highway development through a dedicated institutional mechanism,” Mr. Kambhampati pointed out.
Highlighting State’s mineral wealth, he said, “with the efforts of government, Odisha continues to occupy a pre-eminent position in the national mining and steel landscape. The State is endowed with nearly one third of India’s total iron ore reserves and contributed over 61% of the country’s total iron ore production in 2024–25. Odisha also holds the first position in the production of Steel and Stainless Steel in the country.”
“At present, Odisha has 55 operational steel plants with a total installed capacity of around 45.62 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA), accounting for nearly 23% of the country’s total installed steel capacity. With rising per-capita steel consumption, Odisha is positioning itself to contribute 100 million tonnes of steel towards the national target of 300 million tonnes by 2030,” Governor emphasised.
On the anti-Maoist operation front, Mr. Kambhampati said, “The government has achieved significant success on the anti-Left Wing Extremism through sustained and proactive operational and administrative action, leading to a marked improvement in the situation in the State.”
“In the last 5 years, 48 Maoist cadres were neutralised, 78 were arrested and 82 surrendered. Notably, in 2025 alone, 25 Maoist cadres were neutralised, including 17 in joint operations with Chhattisgarh Police, CRPF and CoBRA at the Nuapada-Gariyabandh border, 9 cadres were arrested, and 29 surrendered. Large quantities of arms, ammunition, explosives and other incriminating materials were also recovered,” he informed.
Published – February 18, 2026 05:45 am IST
