Hydroxyapatite (HAp) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) bioactive materials have been used as individual coatings on steel implants employed in the fields of orthopedics and dentistry due to their excellent properties, which foster effective healing of the repair site. However, slow dissolution of HAp and fairly little fast dissolution of β-TCP present a major obstacle for such applications and this leads to the focus on the investigation of a mixture of HAp and β-TCP composite that forms biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP). The BCP coatings were achieved by thickness controlled electrophoretic deposition on piranha treated 316L SS. This method is well controlled and the anticipated dissolution rate could be attained with faster formation of new bone at the implant site, when compared to the individual HAp or β-TCP coating. The structural, functional, morphological and elemental composition of the coatings were characterized by using various analytical techniques. The BCP coating has been shown to have a role in obstructing the corrosion to a greater extent when in contact with SBF solution. The BCP coating also shows excellent in vitro and mechanical properties and osteoblasts cellular tests revealed that the coating was more effective in improving biocompatibility. This makes it an ideal candidate material for hard tissue replacement. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.