The objective of designing a biocompatible and mechanically stable scaffold for hard tissue regeneration was achieved by fabricating diopside/forsterite composites. Superior mechanical strength, slow degradation, excellent antibacterial activity and good cell viability were attained with the increase in forsterite ratio in the composites whereas apatite deposition ability got enhanced as the diopside content was increased. The variation in the rate of apatite deposition on the surface of composites exhibited different surface topography such as nano-structured interconnected fibrous network and globular morphology. The scaffolds after one-month immersion in a physiological environment exhibited good Young’s modulus and compressive strength. Clear and distinguishable prevention of bacterial growth confirms that composites have the potential to inhibit microbial colony formation of nine different clinical pathogens. The composite containing major diopside content was more effective toward S. aureus while the growth of E. coli was inhibited more by the composite containing a higher ratio of forsterite. The interaction of composites with MG-63 cells showed an enhancement in cell viability as the content of forsterite was increased. MTS assay confirmed the cytocompatibility of samples with negligible toxicity effects. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of The Korean Ceramic Society and The Ceramic Society of Japan.