Sakala — Odisha's Fast-Growing Odia Daily
Sakala is an Odia-language daily newspaper published from Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha. Its first edition was published on 1 December 2020, and it has since been described — including on its own corporate profiles — as one of the fastest-growing Odia newspapers in the state. Published daily in Odia, it now brings out editions from Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Balasore, Jajpur, Jeypore, and Angul, combining a traditional print daily with an active news website, e-paper, and a broad social media presence under the Sakala News banner.
Founding and Launch
Sakala entered Odisha's newspaper market at the close of 2020, a period when regional-language print media across India was navigating the disruption of the pandemic years. The first edition of the newspaper was published on 1 December 2020 in Bhubaneswar. From the start it positioned itself as a Bhubaneswar-based daily with statewide ambitions, and its early branding centred on speed of growth and freshness — presenting itself to readers and advertisers as the newest, most dynamic voice in Odia journalism.
Dr Umakanta Mishra joined as editor of Sakala, leading the editorial side of the venture. The newspaper is published by a privately held company that, according to its professional profiles, employs between 201 and 500 people — a substantial newsroom and commercial operation for a regional daily of its age. Its headquarters are in Bhubaneswar, the political and administrative capital of Odisha, placing the newsroom close to the state secretariat, the Odisha Legislative Assembly, and the major institutions that drive the state's news cycle.
Editions Across Odisha
Sakala is published from the capital city of Bhubaneswar and brings out editions across the state: Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Balasore, Jajpur, Jeypore, and Angul, in addition to Bhubaneswar. This multi-edition footprint covers Odisha's key regions — the coastal belt (Cuttack, Balasore, Berhampur), the western industrial and mining corridor (Rourkela, Sambalpur, Angul), and the southern districts (Jeypore) — giving the paper a genuinely statewide presence within a few years of its founding.
The edition strategy matters because Odisha's news geography is highly regional: a story that leads in the industrial west may differ entirely from the lead in the coastal districts. By printing and distributing from nine centres, Sakala can carry localised pages for each region while sharing statewide, national, and international coverage — the standard model for ambitious Indian regional dailies, and one that requires significant investment in printing, logistics, and district-level reporting staff.
Growth and the "Fastest Growing" Claim
The claim that Sakala is one of the fastest-growing Odia newspapers in Odisha appears consistently across the paper's own descriptions — on its professional profiles, its digital channels, and in third-party listings of Odia media. For a paper launched in December 2020, reaching a nine-edition statewide footprint and a newsroom of several hundred people within five years represents rapid expansion by any measure. In December 2025 the paper marked its fifth anniversary — an occasion noted publicly, including through a mini marathon organised to commemorate the milestone — a sign that the brand was consolidating its identity as an established statewide daily rather than a newcomer.
Its growth took place in one of India's most competitive regional-language markets. Odisha's Odia press includes long-established dailies with decades of readership loyalty, so a new entrant's ability to build circulation, attract advertisers, and staff multiple editions reflects both editorial investment and commercial confidence in the Odia print market.
The Sakala News Digital Ecosystem
A central part of Sakala's growth story is its digital operation, branded Sakala News. The news portal at thesakala.in carries Odisha news alongside national and international coverage, with sections spanning business, sports, and entertainment, and publishes stories with author bylines and timestamps — the site was carrying fresh, same-day reporting in October 2026. The paper also runs a dedicated e-paper website at sakalaepaper.com, allowing readers to read the print edition's pages online.
The digital brand extends across the major social platforms. Sakala News maintains a presence on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, and YouTube, where its video channel describes itself as a destination for breaking news and the latest Odisha headlines covering sports, business, and entertainment. This multi-platform approach — print daily, web portal, e-paper, social video, and messaging channels — is characteristic of the new generation of Indian regional newspapers, which treat the print edition as the anchor of a wider news operation rather than its entirety.
Editorial Coverage and Focus
As an Odia daily, Sakala's core editorial focus is Odisha: state politics, administration, the legislature, district-level developments, education, health, agriculture, industry, and culture. Its digital output shows the standard mix of a full-service regional daily — state and district news, business and economic stories, national politics, international developments, sports, and entertainment. The YouTube and social descriptions emphasise breaking news and the latest Odisha headlines, signalling a newsroom organised around speed as well as depth.
Culturally, an Odia daily operates in a state where language identity, the Jagannath tradition, festivals, and regional pride are central to public life — and where readers expect their newspaper to reflect that identity. Sakala's positioning as a fast-growing, modern Odia paper places it squarely in this tradition of Odia-language journalism while competing for a younger, digitally connected readership.
Ownership and Organisation
Sakala is published by a privately held company headquartered in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, with a reported company size of 201 to 500 employees. The editorial leadership includes Dr Umakanta Mishra as editor. The organisation operates under the Sakala News identity across its print, web, e-paper, and social media arms, presenting a unified brand to readers and advertisers. The paper's registered web domains — thesakala.in for the news portal and sakalaepaper.com for the e-paper — anchor its digital presence.
Position in Odisha's Media Landscape
Odisha's newspaper market has long been dominated by a small number of powerful Odia dailies with deep roots in the state's towns and districts. Sakala's emergence in 2020 added a new statewide contender to this landscape. Its strategy — launch from the capital, expand rapidly to multiple editions, invest in a large newsroom, and build a full digital ecosystem in parallel — reflects how regional newspaper launches are now conceived in India: as multi-platform media operations from day one rather than print-only ventures.
The paper's fifth anniversary in December 2025, marked with public events such as the anniversary mini marathon, underlined its transition from challenger to established player. For readers, Sakala offers an Odia daily with statewide editions and a strong digital and e-paper presence; for the state's media market, it represents the most significant new Odia print brand of the 2020s.
How to Read Sakala
Readers can access Sakala through its print editions across Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Balasore, Jajpur, Jeypore, and Angul; through the news portal at thesakala.in, which carries continuously updated Odia news; through the e-paper at sakalaepaper.com; and through the Sakala News channels on Facebook, X, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, and YouTube. The combination of a daily print newspaper with a round-the-clock digital newsroom makes it one of the most accessible Odia news sources for readers both within Odisha and among the Odia diaspora.
Readership and Advertising Role
As a daily newspaper with a statewide edition network, Sakala also functions as an advertising medium for businesses, government departments, and institutions seeking to reach Odia readers across the state's regions. Its combination of print circulation, e-paper readership, and digital audiences gives advertisers multiple touchpoints with the same brand — a structure that has become the commercial standard for growing regional dailies in India.
