Steel, fertilizer, cement, ferrovanadium, machine-building, glass, china-clay plants and factories, and spinning mills are some of the major industries of this district.

Sundargarh occupies a prominent position in the mineral map of Odisha and is rich in iron ore, limestone, and manganese.

This ex-state was under the suzerainty of Sambalpur, known as Hirakhand Desh, and later formed part of the dominion of the Maratha Rajas of Nagpur.

This was ceded to the British Government in 1803 by the Maratha Chief Raghuji Bhonsla of Nagpur under the treaty of Deogaon (near Rourkela).

In 1905, this princely state along with Bonai was transferred from the control of the commissioner of Chhotanagpur to that of the Odisha Division and a separate political agent was appointed.

The Medical College was taken over by Government of Odisha and renamed as Government Medical College and Hospital with MBBS classes starting from 2022-23 academic session under the leadership of Dean and Principal Professor Dr Daitary Routray.

A new synthetic (polygrass) hockey turf has been laid at the SAI Sports Complex in Bhawanipur, Sundargarh.

Then began the wait for synthetic turf, which arrived only in November 2008, and was subsequently laid by February 2009.