Bhubaneswar: In a decisive move to accelerate the transformation of Odisha into a global tourism hub, Chief Secretary Shrimati Anu Garg chaired a high-level review meeting to monitor the progress of key initiatives under the Department of Tourism. The meeting, which comes in the wake of the landmark Odisha Tourism Amendment Policy 2026, focused on a comprehensive strategy to enhance infrastructure and streamline investment across the state.
During the session, Secretary of Tourism Shri Balwant Singh presented a detailed outline of the department’s progress and deliberation points. He highlighted the intensive field visits being conducted across various districts to identify and resolve grassroots bottlenecks. These efforts are part of a proactive approach to ensure that ongoing and proposed tourism projects are not only fast-tracked but also meet world-class standards.
The discussions underscored the extraordinary nature of the 2026 Amendment Policy, which introduces radical reforms to boost private sector participation. A central highlight of the new policy is the significant reduction in entry barriers; the minimum investment threshold for star-category hotels has been lowered from 50 rooms to just 10. This shift is designed to encourage boutique hospitality and niche eco-tourism projects in untapped regions.
Furthermore, the policy has expanded Special Tourism Zones to include high-potential destinations such as Hirakud, Satkosia, Similipal, and the heritage sites of Ratnagiri, Udayagiri, and Lalitgiri. To ensure inclusive growth, enhanced capital investment subsidies of up to 40 percent have been earmarked for projects led by women entrepreneurs and those belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and differently-abled categories.
Shrimati Garg emphasized the need for a mission-mode implementation of these reforms to achieve the state’s vision of creating 15,000 star-category hotel rooms by 2036. The meeting concluded with a directive to further strengthen inter-departmental coordination and leverage the new incentives for MICE tourism, destination weddings, and the promotion of authentic Odia cuisine on a global scale.