The city of Raipur is located near the centre of a large plain, sometimes referred as the “rice bowl of India”, where hundreds of varieties of rice are grown. The Mahanadi River flows to the east of the city of Raipur, and the southern side has dense forests.

The Maikal Hills rise on the north-west of Raipur; on the north, the land rises and merges with the Chota Nagpur Plateau, which extends north-east across Jharkhand state. On the south of Raipur lies the Baster Plateau.

Raipur city is situated on the Mumbai-Howrah route of Indian Railways and is well connected with such important places as Mumbai, Howrah, Kolkata (Calcutta), Delhi, Amritsar, Pune, Kochi, Patna, Dhanbad, Secundrabad and Bangalore.

National Highway 6 passes through the city of Raipur, and National Highway 43,200,12A links the city with visakhapatnam. It is well connected by road to all important places of India.

Air links to the city were revived after the city became the state capital. Along with Indian, which connects the city with Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur and visakhapatnam, Air Deccan flies to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Ahmedabad, and Ranchi, and Jet Airways has a daily flight to Bombay (Mumbai) and Delhi.

Raipur Airport is situated in the outskirts of the city, in the village of Mana, and is popularly known as Mana Airport. It is the sole commercially operating airport of Chattisgarh state.