BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to promote Odia cuisine restaurants in and outside Odisha, the state government has issued necessary guidelines for implementation of the new initiative under the Odisha Tourism (Amendment) Policy, 2026.
As part of the guidelines, the Tourism department has set eight conditions for the restaurants to be eligible to seek incentive under the policy for promoting the state’s culinary heritage. The guidelines stipulate clear landownership or valid agreement, minimum seating capacity of 25 guests, hygienic and functioning kitchen facility and a minimum of `20 lakh investment (excluding land and building) for a restaurant to avail the incentive benefit.
It also mandates trained and experienced staff in traditional Odia culinary practices, clean and adequate public convenience, provision of parking facility as per applicable building bylaws and display of Odia cuisine offerings in the menu cards in both local language and English for the restaurants to be eligible to apply for the incentive.
The department has offered both capital (CAPEX) and operational (OPEX) support to restaurants specialising in Odia cuisine. The CAPEX support provides reimbursement of up to 30 pc of eligible expenditure, subject to a maximum of Rs 5 crore. This reimbursement has been proposed to be disbursed in three installments - 50 pc after one year of commercial operation, 25 pc after second year and the rest 25 pc after third year.
For restaurants within Odisha, eligible components include furnishing, interiors, kitchen equipment, repair and renovation of existing establishments and civil works, while for those outside the state, the coverage includes furnishing, interiors and kitchen equipment.
The policy also offers OPEX incentives to reduce operational costs, in which restaurants within the state are eligible for reimbursement of twice their monthly electricity charges during the first year, followed by reimbursement of electricity charges and State GST for the second and third years. For restaurants outside Odisha, twice the monthly electricity charges are to be reimbursed for a period of three years. In both cases, the total reimbursement is capped at Rs 2 lakh per unit per month.
As per the guidelines, the incentives are applicable to government-notified tourist destinations within Odisha, as well as selected locations outside the state, including five major metro cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata with a limit of five units per city and five prominent tourist destinations such as Agra, Varanasi, Goa, Kochi and Jaipur with a maximum of two units per destination. The claims of restaurants will be verified by an Odia Culinary Committee constituted by the Tourism department.