A New Capital District: Reimagining Humane Governance for Odisha

At certain moments in a society’s journey, the most important questions are not about schemes or budgets, but about how power is imagined, located, and exercised. Odisha today stands at such a moment. As the State looks ahead to Vision 2036, aspiring to faster growth, stronger institutions, and greater global engagement, it may be time to ask a deeper and less comfortable question: does the physical form and location of our governance still reflect the values we claim to uphold?
I believe Odisha should seriously consider a bold idea: the creation of a compact, future-ready capital governance district at Dhauli, within a carefully limited footprint of about 500 acres. This is not a call for cosmetic relocation, nor an indulgence in grand architecture. It is an invitation to rethink governance itself—its efficiency, its symbolism, and its moral grounding.

Why Dhauli could be future-ready capital district 

Dhauli is not just another site on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. It occupies a unique place in the civilisational memory of India. It was here that Emperor Ashoka, after witnessing the carnage of the Kalinga War, underwent a moral transformation that reshaped his rule and left a lasting imprint on political thought across Asia. From conquest emerged conscience; from violence, restraint. Few places in the world mark so clearly the moment when power confronted its own limits.

To situate the seat of governance near Dhauli is not to romanticise history. It is to embed a quiet but constant ethical reminder into the everyday functioning of the State. In an era when public trust in institutions is under strain, symbolism matters—not as spectacle, but as orientation. Where governments sit often shapes how they see themselves.

Rethinking the capital district model

There is also a practical case for rethinking the capital district model. Odisha’s current administrative infrastructure, like that of most Indian states, is rooted in a mid-20th-century planning logic: horizontally spread campuses, land-intensive official colonies, and fragmented institutional zones. This model is becoming increasingly unsustainable. Land near established cities is scarce and expensive. Infrastructure costs rise sharply with sprawl. Governance becomes physically dispersed and operationally inefficient.

Odisha Vision 2036 speaks repeatedly of efficiency, sustainability, and institutional quality. These objectives cannot be met merely by digitising legacy systems or adding new buildings to old campuses. They require a more fundamental rethinking of how governance space is organised.

Vertical, integrated, land-efficient

The Dhauli idea consciously breaks from inherited templates. It imagines a vertical, integrated, land-efficient governance district, where the Legislature, Secretariat, and High Court coexist within a single constitutional core, supported by shared services, secure circulation, and modern digital infrastructure. Official housing shifts decisively away from bungalow-style colonies to well-designed vertical communities for legislators, ministers, judges, and senior officers—secure, dignified, and far more efficient in land use.

The discipline of a 500-acre footprint is central to this idea. It reflects the real constraint of land availability near Bhubaneswar, but it also forces innovation. Global experience shows that, with intelligent design, such a footprint can comfortably accommodate not only the core institutions of government, but also a supporting urban ecosystem: a mixed-use urban centre for around 15,000 residents, an international-standard hotel and convention facility, and generous public landscapes.

Importantly, this is not an argument for concrete congestion. On the contrary, a compact vertical model can ensure that more than half the land remains open or landscaped, preserving Dhauli’s visual serenity and cultural dignity. Height replaces sprawl; design replaces land wastage. Signature gardens and even an executive nine-hole golf course can coexist with dense development if planned as multi-functional landscapes rather than exclusive enclaves.

Alignment with Vision 2036

The inevitable question is cost. On conservative assumptions, the total investment—including land acquisition—would be of the order of ₹20,000 crore, spread over five years. Moreover, significant components—urban housing, commercial spaces, hotel and convention facilities—are well suited to PPP and private participation, substantially reducing direct fiscal burden on the State. 

Vision 2036 recognises implicitly that economic growth depends not only on physical infrastructure but on the quality of governance institutions. Roads, ports, and industries accelerate growth; but it is governance capacity that sustains it. Seen in this light, investment in a future-ready capital is not consumption—it is productive state-building.

Crucially, this is not a proposal to abandon Bhubaneswar or diminish its importance. It is a complementary strategy—relieving pressure on the existing city, improving administrative efficiency, and creating a governance district designed for the next century.

Capitals speak, even when governments do not. Their location and form communicate what a state values. A new capital district at Dhauli would send a subtle but powerful signal: that Odisha seeks growth without arrogance, authority without excess, and power tempered by conscience.

This idea is offered not as a finished blueprint, but as a provocation to think differently. Dhauli Capital District would show-case how Odisha governs and what it stands for in the decades to come.