List of governors of Odisha facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Governor of Odisha
Emblem of Odisha
Incumbent Kambhampati Hari Babu since 3 January 2025 (2025-01-03)
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Raj Bhavan, Bhubaneswar Raj Bhavan, Puri
Appointer	President of India
Term length	At the pleasure of the president
Inaugural holder	Kailash Nath Katju
Formation	15 August 1947; 78 years ago (1947-08-15)

The Governor of Odisha is a very important leader in the Indian state of Odisha. Think of the governor as the state's main representative, much like the President of India is for the whole country. They have similar powers and duties, but only for their state.

The President of India chooses who becomes a governor. These governors usually come from a different state than the one they are appointed to lead. The rules for how the President picks them are not written in the Indian Constitution.

While the governor is the official head, the real power to make decisions and run the state belongs to the Chief Minister of Odisha and their team of ministers. The governor acts more like a guide and a symbol of the state.

As of July 17, 2025, the current Governor of Odisha is Kambhampati Hari Babu. He started his role on January 3, 2025.

Who are the Governors of Odisha?

This section lists the people who have served as the Governor of Odisha since India became independent.

No.	Name	Portrait	Started Office	Left Office	Time in Office	Home State	Appointed by
1.	Kailash Nath Katju		15 August 1947	20 June 1948	310 days	Madhya Pradesh	Louis Mountbatten
2.	Asaf Ali		21 June 1948	5 May 1951	2 years, 318 days	Uttar Pradesh	C. Rajagopalachari
-	V. P. Menon (acting)		6 May 1951	17 July 1951	72 days	Kerala	Rajendra Prasad
(2).	Asaf Ali		18 July 1951	6 June 1952	324 days (Total 3 years, 277 days)	Uttar Pradesh
3.	Fazal Ali		7 June 1952	9 February 1954	1 year, 247 days	Bihar
4.	P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja		10 February 1954	11 September 1956	2 years, 214 days	Tamil Nadu
5.	Bhim Sen Sachar		12 September 1956	31 July 1957	322 days	Punjab
6.	Yeshwant Narayan Sukthankar		31 July 1957	15 September 1962	5 years, 46 days	Maharashtra
7.	Ajudhia Nath Khosla		16 September 1962	5 August 1966	3 years, 323 days	New Delhi	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
-	Khaleel Ahmed (acting)		5 August 1966	11 September 1966	37 days	Odisha
(7).	Ajudhia Nath Khosla		12 September 1966	30 January 1968	1 year, 140 days (Total 5 years, 98 days)	New Delhi
8.	Shaukatullah Shah Ansari		31 January 1968	20 September 1971	3 years, 232 days	Karnataka	Zakir Husain
-	Sardar Jogendra Singh (acting)		20 September 1971	30 June 1972	284 days	Uttar Pradesh	V. V. Giri
-	Gati Krushna Misra (acting)		1 July 1972	8 November 1972	130 days	Odisha
9.	Basappa Danappa Jatti		8 November 1972	20 August 1974	1 year, 285 days	Karnataka
-	Gati Krushna Misra (acting)		21 August 1974	25 October 1974	65 days	Odisha
10.	Akbar Ali Khan		25 October 1974	17 April 1976	1 year, 175 days	Andhra Pradesh	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
-	Shiva Narayan Shankar (acting)		17 April 1976	7 February 1977	296 days	Odisha
11.	Harcharan Singh Brar		7 February 1977	22 September 1977	227 days	Punjab
12.	Bhagwat Dayal Sharma		23 September 1977	30 April 1980	2 years, 220 days	Haryana	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
13.	Cheppudira Muthana Poonacha		30 April 1980	30 September 1980	153 days	Karnataka
-	S. K. Ray (acting)		1 October 1980	3 November 1980	33 days	Odisha
(13).	Cheppudira Muthana Poonacha		4 November 1980	24 June 1982	1 year, 232 days	Karnataka
-	Ranganath Misra (acting)		25 June 1982	31 August 1982	67 days	Odisha
(13).	Cheppudira Muthana Poonacha		1 September 1982	17 August 1983	350 days (Total 3 years, 5 days)	Karnataka	Giani Zail Singh
14.	Bishambhar Nath Pande		17 August 1983	20 November 1988	5 years, 95 days	Uttar Pradesh
15.	Saiyid Nurul Hasan		20 November 1988	6 February 1990	4 years, 78 days		R. Venkataraman
16.	Yagya Dutt Sharma		7 February 1990	1 February 1993	2 years, 360 days	Punjab
(15).	Saiyid Nurul Hasan		1 February 1993	31 May 1993	119 days (Total 4 years, 197 days)	Uttar Pradesh	Shankar Dayal Sharma
17.	B. Satya Narayan Reddy		1 June 1993	17 June 1995	2 years, 16 days	Andhra Pradesh
18.	Gopala Ramanujam		18 June 1995	30 January 1997	1 year, 226 days	Tamil Nadu
19.	K. V. Raghunatha Reddy		31 January 1997	12 February 1997	12 days	Andhra Pradesh
(18).	Gopala Ramanujam		13 February 1997	13 December 1997	303 days (Total 2 years, 164 days)	Tamil Nadu
(19).	K. V. Raghunatha Reddy		13 December 1997	27 April 1998	135 days (Total 147 days)	Andhra Pradesh	K. R. Narayanan
20.	C. Rangarajan		27 April 1998	14 November 1999	1 year, 201 days	Tamil Nadu
21.	M. M. Rajendran		15 November 1999	17 November 2004	5 years, 2 days
22.	Rameshwar Thakur		18 November 2004	21 August 2007	2 years, 276 days	Bihar	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
23.	Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare		21 August 2007	9 March 2013	5 years, 200 days	Maharashtra	Pratibha Patil
24.	S.C. Jamir		21 March 2013	20 March 2018	4 years, 364 days	Nagaland	Pranab Mukherjee
-	Satya Pal Malik (additional charge)		21 March 2018	28 May 2018	68 days	Uttar Pradesh	Ramnath Kovind
25.	Ganeshi Lal		29 May 2018	30 October 2023	5 years, 154 days	Haryana
26.	Raghubar Das		31 October 2023	2 January 2025	1 year, 63 days	Jharkhand	Droupadi Murmu
27.	Kambhampati Hari Babu		3 January 2025	Incumbent	232 days	Andhra Pradesh

More to Explore

• Government of Odisha
• Governors of states of India
• List of governors of Bihar and Orissa Province
• List of current Indian governors