Chhattisgarh (, Hindi: [ˈtʃʰət̪ːiːsgəɽʱ]) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Pradesh to the northwest, Maharashtra to the southwest, Jharkhand to the northeast, Odisha to the east, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to the south. Formerly a part of Madhya Pradesh, it was granted statehood on 1 November 2000 with Raipur as the designated state capital.Chhattisgarh is one of the fastest-developing states in India. Its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is ₹3.63 lakh crore (US$45 billion), with a per capita GSDP of ₹102,762 (US$1,300). A resource-rich state, it has the third largest coal reserves in the country and provides electricity, coal, and steel to the rest of the nation. It also has the third largest forest cover in the country after Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh with over 40% of the state covered by forests.

Bhubaneswar (; Odia: [ˈbʱubɔneswɔɾɔ, -ɕwɔɾ] (listen)) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as Ekamra Khetra (area (kshetra) adorned with mango trees (ekamra)). Bhubaneswar is dubbed the "Temple City", a nickname earned because of the 700 temples which once stood there. In contemporary times, it has emerged as an education hub and an attractive business destination.Although the modern city of Bhubaneswar was formally established in 1948, the history of the areas in and around the present-day city can be traced to the 7th century BCE and earlier. It is a confluence of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain heritage and includes several Kalingan temples, many of them from 6th–13th century CE. With Puri and Konark it forms the 'Swarna Tribhuja' ("Golden Triangle"), one of eastern India's most visited destinations.Bhubaneswar replaced Cuttack as the capital on 19 August 1949, 2 years after India gained its independence from Britain. The modern city was designed by the German architect Otto Königsberger in 1946. Along with Jamshedpur and Chandigarh, it was one of modern India's first planned cities. Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are often referred to as the 'twin cities of Odisha'. The metropolitan area formed by the two cities had a population of 1.7 million in 2011. The Bhubaneswar metro area has a population of around a million people, and is categorised as a Tier-2 city. Bhubaneswar and Rourkela are the only cities in smart city mission from Odisha.