The inaugural Odisha Pharma Summit 2025 delivered strong early signals of intent, positioning the state as an upcoming destination for PLI-triggered expansions, to complement existing pharma hubs.As Hemant Sharma,ACS Industry Dept and I&PR Dept, Govt of Odisha puts it, the aim is to “become a good, viable second option.”How fast can the eastern newcomer catch up and become India’s next life sciences hub, asks Viveka Roychowdhury
The December 16 summit reportedly attracted strong investor response, with a total of 69 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed across pharmaceuticals, medical technologies, and industrial infrastructure. These MoUs represent an investment commitment of Rs 7,043 crore, with an estimated employment generation potential of 44,646 jobs.
Pharmaceuticals bagged the lion’s share (32 MoUs with proposed investments of Rs 2,681 crore, generating over 6,528 employment opportunities) followed by Medical Technology & Devices (12 MoUs, Rs 582 crore in committed investments, to create over 1,878 jobs). An MoU was also signed to set up an industrial park, with an investment of Rs 3,000 crore, expected to generate nearly 30,000 jobs.
The Odisha government’s pharma foray is part of the government’s overall Viksit Bharat @2047 vision, and specifically to boost investment and development of Eastern India under the Purvodaya (look east) policy push.
The state has charted its own policy, Samruddha Odisha 2036, for becoming a developed, future-ready state by 2036, Odisha’s centenary year of statehood.
Summing up the intent, Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi while addressing the Odisha Pharma Summit 2025 on December 16, 2025 said, “Odisha will be a leading destination for pharmaceutical and medical-device investments – the most competitive hub for innovation and jobs. Yahi samay hai.”
But will Odisha catch up with more established pharma/medtech hubs in the country? After all, what does the “new kid on the block” offer to attract investments?
Hemant Sharma, ACS Industry Dept and I&PR Dept, Govt of Odisha
We are not saying that in the next two years or three years or five years, we will become the largest pharma hub or medtech hub in India, but we will become a good, viable second option
PLI plus policy
The state is in fact positioning its late entry as an advantage. As Hemant Sharma, ACS Industry Dept and I&PR Dept, Govt of Odisha explains, “The PLI scheme is a trigger for expansion of capacities in the pharma sector.” Odisha is positioning itself as a new geography, for companies which have exhausted all expansion avenues at their existing locations and are looking to reduce their cost of operations.
He points out that the pharma industry, like any industry which competes in global markets or even in domestic markets, “this is a very thin margin game. This is also a game which is dependent on a lot of inputs, dependencies on many chemicals to be imported from outside. Therefore, these cost advantages will certainly work (to Odisha’s advantage).”
Agreeing that this will take some time to materialise, he reasons, “We are not saying that in the next two years or three years or five years, we will become the largest pharma hub or medtech hub in India, but we will become a good, viable second option.”
He points out that companies who set up manufacturing plants and warehouses in older hubs like in Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Hyderabad or Vishakhapatnam, now feel that the cost of operations are going up. So Odisha’s first proposition for the pharma industry is that any company in expansion mode will be able to compare Odisha favorably with existing locations.
A key highlight of the December 16 summit was the launch of the Odisha Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Policy 2025, which the media release describes as “a forward looking policy aimed at building a globally competitive, innovation-led, and employment-oriented life sciences ecosystem in the State.”
The policy reportedly offers a comprehensive framework covering infrastructure development, investment facilitation, research and development, skill development, and targeted incentives for pharmaceuticals and medical devices manufacturing.
Gateway to the East + ASEAN
Odisha’s second trump card is its coastal location, with existing ports like Paradip, Dhamra, and Gopalpur ports, which have already served Odisha’s fairly large chemical processing and export firms. Therefore Sharma reasons that they can be the right locations for largescale bulk drug and API manufacturing plants.
Sharma points out that large chemical companies like Deepak Nitrite, SRF and UPL, chose port cities like Gopalpur or Paradeep as one of their second locations, after they had exhausted all growth expansion in their western India locations.
Their move to Odisha also brought them closer to newer markets in Southeast Asia, Far East and others, which are closer to ports on the eastern coastline. Ports in Mumbai, Navasheva, JNPT, Mundra, Kandla and others on the western coastline are closer to the EU and US markets.
Early success stories
For instance, Sharma mentions that the state’s pharma policy today prescribes up to 40 per cent capital investment subsidy in plant and machinery with a particular limit and 30 per cent capital investment subsidy in plant and machinery without any upper limit. The policy has remodeled the definition of plant and machinery to make it more suitable to the pharma and medtech devices sectors so that the majority of their investment components are included.
“We were guided in this by one of the early players here, the Bharat Biotech Park, set up at Bhubaneswar, which is a very successful venture of the Bharat Biotech Group. And therefore, we feel that our policy should be able to drive the initial flow of investments in Odisha,” opines Sharma.
A lot of homework has gone into Odisha’s choice of locations for pharma/medtech parks. “We studied at least four such parks initially before we zeroed down on these two investment regions.”
All this background work culminated with the Hon’ble Chief Minister Majhi unveiling two new industrial parks, one dedicated to pharmaceuticals at Khordha-Nayagarh and the second to medical devices at Khordha.
These parks reportedly come equipped with industrial infrastructure, common utilities, testing and certification facilities, and compliance ready ecosystems to enable faster project implementation and ease of operations.
Listing the benefits of these locations, Sharma explains that the 250 acre pharma park and the 150 acre medtech devices park, are located very close to Bhubaneswar, about 45 minutes drive from the Bhubaneswar International Airport. The medtech devices park is part of the larger electronic city providing access to the talent from nearby technical and professional institutions. The locations have been chosen in anticipation of future growth.
According to Sharma, “The pharma park is located in such a manner that it can grow further, from today’s 250 acres to 1000 acres.” Besides being close to Bhubaneshwar, the location is also accessible to National Highway 16, which connects Kolkata with Chennai as well as National Highway 55, which connects Bhubaneswar with Sambalpur.
In addition at Gopalpur, Sharma refers to another bulk drug park launched, which is 500 acres of land in a special economic zone, very close to the Gopalpur port, with ready to move in infrastructure with plots, built-up plots, a deep sea discharge facility as well as a CETP and doorstep availability of water and power.
The Odisha state government is obviously hoping that the presence of leading companies including Bharat Biotech, Infunex, Hetero Pharma, and Granules Lifescience, combined with aggressively competitive policies will attract more pharma and medtech companies to consider investing in the state.
As the Odisha Chief Minister put it, the first Odisha Pharma Summit positioned Odisha as eastern India’s emerging life sciences hub. Now, the state will have to live up to its intent, with strong and speedy implementation.