Odisha, Indiai

Regional Level Types
Odisha	State
India	Country

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Odisha (formerly Orissa) is a state in eastern India, covering approximately 155,700 km². It is bordered by West Bengal and Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west, Andhra Pradesh to the south, and the Bay of Bengal to the east. The state capital is Bhubaneswar, while Cuttack and Rourkela are among its major cities. Odisha occupies a geologically important position between the Indian shield and the eastern coastal plains.

Geographically, Odisha is characterised by a strong contrast between upland interiors and low-lying coastal plains. The eastern part of the state consists of fertile coastal and deltaic lowlands, formed by rivers such as the Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani, and Subarnarekha, which drain into the Bay of Bengal. Inland areas rise into the Eastern Ghats, a discontinuous range of hills and plateaus, beyond which lie forested uplands and rolling terrain in western Odisha. The climate is tropical monsoonal, with high seasonal rainfall, particularly along the coast.

Geologically, Odisha is one of India’s most significant states. Much of the interior lies on the Eastern Indian Shield, dominated by Precambrian crystalline rocks, including granites, gneisses, charnockites, and greenstone belts, many of which are among the oldest rocks in the Indian subcontinent. The Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt contains high-grade metamorphic rocks formed during multiple orogenic events. These ancient rocks are overlain locally by Proterozoic sedimentary sequences, while the coastal region is underlain by Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments of the Mahanadi Basin. Quaternary alluvium dominates the modern river plains and delta.

Odisha has an exceptionally rich mineral and mining heritage, making it one of India’s most mineral-rich states. It hosts some of the country’s largest deposits of iron ore, particularly in the Keonjhar–Sundargarh–Mayurbhanj belt, as well as major reserves of bauxite, chromite, and manganese. Odisha is India’s principal source of chromite, notably from the Sukinda Valley, which contains some of the world’s largest chromite deposits. The state also produces coal, especially from the Talcher Coalfield, along with limestone, dolomite, graphite, and china clay. These resources have supported large-scale steel, aluminium, and power-generation industries.

Historically, Odisha has been a distinct cultural and political region since antiquity, known in early sources as Kalinga. It was the site of the Kalinga War in the 3rd century BCE, after which Emperor Ashoka embraced Buddhism. The region later came under various Indian dynasties, Mughal influence, and ultimately British colonial rule, before becoming part of independent India in 1947. Its mineral wealth has been a major driver of industrial development since the mid-20th century.

Administratively, Odisha is divided into districts, further subdivided into blocks and municipalities. Its geology—dominated by ancient shield rocks, high-grade metamorphic belts, and resource-rich basins—makes Odisha central to understanding Precambrian crustal evolution, metallogenesis, and the relationship between mineral resources and long-term economic development in eastern India.

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded from this region.

Mineral List

Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities

178 valid minerals. 1 erroneous literature entry.

Rock Types Recorded

Rock list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities