Odisha Tourism Audit: CAG Flags ₹207 Crore Loss in Eco Retreats and Idle Funds

29 Sep 2026, 05:46 by Vinay Kakkad · KalingaTV

Bhubaneswar: A major audit of Odisha’s coastal tourism projects has revealed deep financial troubles, showing that hundreds of crores of public money were either parked in bank accounts or lost on luxury ventures that failed to attract enough visitors.

The state’s spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, laid the report before the state assembly, examining how coastal and ocean-focused tourism programs were managed over five years up to 2024.

The financial breakdown points to two big problems: huge amounts of money sitting unused, and massive operational losses in the state’s flagship luxury camping scheme.

Stalled Funds and Idle Cash

Rather than building actual facilities, state bodies allowed large amounts of money to pile up in commercial banks. Nine state agencies left a combined Rs 898.48 crore sitting idle in bank accounts because officials could not secure mandatory legal clearances, official approvals, or clear plots of land.

The vast majority of this frozen money was concentrated in two bodies:

The Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) and the Shamuka Tourism Development Corporation (STDC) held Rs 806.44 crore—nearly nine-tenths of the parked total—idle for five years.
Unable to spend its budget, the state Tourism department also surrendered Rs 103.35 crore back to the government out of a total allocated fund of Rs 2,278.04 crore.

On top of this, OTDC failed to collect its own bills. It left Rs 10.72 crore unpaid by government offices and Rs 72 lakh unpaid by private customers for transport and hotel stays. A plan to set up beach shacks collapsed completely, trapping Rs 1.25 crore in spending and losing an estimated Rs 45.50 lakh in yearly revenue.

Heavy Losses in the Luxury Glamping Scheme

Where money was actively spent, the returns fell far short of costs. The department’s Eco Retreat program—launched in 2019 to offer luxury tent stays, food, meeting rooms, and sports at 3-star hotel standards—ran up an overall deficit of Rs 207.68 crore across seven sites.

The audit tracked a widening gap between what the state spent and what it earned:

Costs skyrocketed while revenue stayed flat: Annual spending jumped from Rs 17.34 crore for one site to Rs 83.39 crore as the project expanded to seven locations. Over the same five years, earnings barely shifted, rising from Rs 3.85 crore to just Rs 7.40 crore.
Per-site losses grew fast: The average loss on each retreat widened from Rs 4.58 crore in 2020–21 to Rs 10.85 crore in 2023–24.
Rooms stayed mostly empty: Between 14 and 57 out of every 100 available tents were booked during 2022–23. The next year, occupancy only reached between 23 and 62 out of every 100 tents.

The CAG noted that poor marketing, power cuts and voltage problems at distant sites, and low-quality food from private vendors kept guests away. While the auditor recognized that eco-tourism can create jobs, it pointed out that public money should only back projects that make commercial sense.

Unfinished Projects Across the State

Several high-profile development plans have stalled after spending substantial public funds:

Centrally funded heritage schemes: Under the PRASHAD scheme, works across Puri, Shree Jagannath Dham, Ramchandi, Dhauli, and the Prachi River at Deuli remain incomplete despite spending Rs 6.49 crore.
Swadesh Darshan projects: Work at Barakul, Satapada, Tampara, and Gopalpur spent Rs 41.60 crore without finishing the jobs or meeting their goals.
Bindusagar Lake: A nine-year effort to turn the water body into a tourist destination remains incomplete after an outlay of Rs 8.16 crore.
Shamuka Special Tourism Area: A designated project in Puri district used up Rs 11.92 crore without creating functional infrastructure.
Blue Flag beaches: A drive from 2020 to 2025 to develop certified clean beaches at Niladri, Muhan, and Pir Jahania in Puri cost Rs 3.78 crore but failed to secure the status.

Law Breaches and Tourist Concentration

The report also cited violations of environmental rules and basic safety laws.

Agencies spent Rs 28.84 crore building permanent and semi-permanent concrete structures inside national parks, sanctuaries, and proposed reserve forests, breaking the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. These illegal works included a beach walkway at Ramchandi, road widening on the Puri-Konark Marine Drive, and a Panthasala guest house at Talasari.

Basic guest protection was also ignored: 20 state-run Panthanivas guest houses were found running without mandatory fire safety certificates.

Finally, the state’s tourist traffic remains heavily clustered in just two areas. Out of every 100 tourists who visited Odisha between 2019 and 2024, roughly 48 went only to Puri and Khordha, drawn by the Jagannath Temple, the Rath Yatra festival, and Puri’s beaches. Despite heavy spending, the state has struggled to draw visitors to other scenic spots.