The 47th meeting of the Odisha Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, was held on Monday at the conference hall of Lok Seva Bhawan. After the meeting, Chief Secretary Anu Garg briefed the media on the decisions.
The Cabinet discussed and approved 18 proposals from 12 departments: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (1), Industries (1), Finance (1), Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (3), Water Resources (2), Works (4), Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water (1), School and Mass Education (1), Law (1), Energy (1), General Administration and Public Grievance (1), and Parliamentary Affairs (1 proposal to summon the seventh session of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly).
The standout decision was the approval of the Odisha Jan Vishwas Bill, 2026. Building on the Odisha Jan Vishwas Act, 2025, the Bill is the second, broader phase of the State’s regulatory-reform drive. It proposes 62 amendments across 16 State Acts administered by 11 departments.
Schedule I contains 35 amendments in 11 Acts that mainly decriminalise and rationalise minor, technical and procedural offences, replacing imprisonment or disproportionate fines with monetary penalties and simpler appellate processes.
Schedule II contains 27 amendments in five Acts that rationalise nine regulatory approvals—extending licence validity, reducing or ending renewal requirements, introducing intimation-based registration and NOCs, and removing duplicate permissions.
Reforms also cover municipal and Gram Panchayat licensing so that businesses need not obtain overlapping clearances when an equivalent trade licence already exists. Officials say the changes will cut compliance burden, litigation and delay while strengthening trust-based governance and investor confidence.
Among infrastructure decisions, the Cabinet approved widening and strengthening of the 25.166-km Rayagada–Kereda Road (MDR-48B) from two lanes to four lanes. The lowest tender of Rs 126.94 crore (estimated project cost Rs 186.19 crore) was accepted; work is to be completed in 24 months. Travel time on the stretch is expected to fall by about half, improving links for industry, mining, agriculture and tribal communities in southern Odisha.
The Water Resources Department received approval for an Rs 8,653.04-crore deep-borewell irrigation scheme to be implemented from 2026-27 to 2030-31 with State funds. It envisages 1.5 lakh solar and non-solar deep borewells across 26 districts and 256 blocks, creating irrigation potential of 7.5 lakh hectares, especially in highlands, Western Odisha and the KBK region. The Cabinet also cleared an Rs 650-crore BOITA scheme for heritage irrigation structures and tourism, besides cadre restructuring in Horticulture (67 new posts) and Soil Conservation Services.
Taken together, the day’s decisions mix regulatory simplification with large-scale farm and road investment, continuing the government’s stated focus on ease of living, ease of doing business and Viksit Odisha.
