About Department

The Commerce & Transport Department came into existence during the year 1974. This Department consists of two wings i.e. Commerce wing and Transport wing. 

1. Commerce wing: 

The Commerce Department oversees two key Directorates: The Directorate of Printing, Stationery & Publication in Cuttack and the Directorate of Ports & Inland Water Transport in Bhubaneswar. Additionally, it manages a Gazette Notification cell responsible for publishing all extraordinary government gazettes on the official website. This cell handles notifications regarding name changes, partnership deeds, and various resolutions and notifications from government departments, public undertakings, and universities among others.

The Directorate of Printing, Stationery & Publication is a Quasi Industrial Service Organisation which delivers different services like printing of Scheduled & Non-Scheduled Forms, State Government Gazettes, Government Publications, Printing of Govt. Diary, State Govt. Budget, etc.

The Directorate of Ports & Inland Water Transport oversees non-major port development and non-nationalized waterways in Odisha. The state published its Port Policy in November 2022 to holistically develop the maritime sector.

The Odisha Maritime Board (OMB), established in August 2022, coordinates non-major port activities, optimizes efficiency, and aims to become a leader in port development and management. It promotes sustainable port development practices.

The Crew Training Institute in Chandbali, operating since 1979, is the sole government institute providing training for inland vessel operations. Graduates find employment in various government departments and maritime sectors as launch drivers, serangs, seacunnies, boatmen, and launch khalasis.

2. Transport Wing:

The Transport Department is entrusted with the matters relating to road transport regulatory, rail coordination and aviation sector. The Department administers the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1975 and Rules made there under. The Department also supervises, regulates the working and functioning of the various bodies such as, the State Transport Authority (STA), Regional Transport Offices (RTO) and Directorate of Civil Aviation. There is also a corporation namely, Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) functioning under this Department. Besides, there are Tribunals namely, State Transport Appellate Tribunal (STAT), Cuttack, 2nd Motor Accident Claim Tribunals (MACT) at Cuttack, Sambalpur and Berhampur which mainly look after finalization of motor accident claims cases.