Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings are normally made directly on orthopaedic implants and they possess many demerits such as cracks, irregular phase composition and poor adhesion. The present study had a novel approach of providing a nano-HA and phosphorous-rich electroless nickel (EN) coating as an interlayer on stainless steel (SS) prior to electrodeposition of pure HA coating. The interlayer had the merits of having incorporated with nano HA with rich phosphorous content. The outermost HA coating had excellent adherence and it was found to be free from any defects since it was formed only on the interlayer and not on the direct substrate. The overall coating system revealed high bioactivity when immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF). The present study also highlights the scope of using cost effective SS as the implant substrate instead of titanium as against the current trend of substrate selection.