  A low intermediate scale within minimal supersymmetric SO(10) GUTs is a
desirable feature to accommodate leptogenesis. We explore this possibility in
models where the intermediate gauge symmetry breaks spontaneously by (a)
doublet Higgs scalars and also (b) by triplets. In both scenarios gauge
coupling unification requires the scale of left-right symmetry breaking ($M_R$)
to be close to the unification scale. This will entail unnaturally small
neutrino Yukawa couplings to avoid the gravitino problem and allow successful
leptogenesis. We point out that any one of three options -- threshold
corrections due to the mass spectrum near the unification scale, gravity
induced non-renormalizable operators near the Planck scale, or presence of
additional light Higgs multiplets -- can permit unification along with much
lower values of $M_R$ as required for leptogenesis. In the triplet model,
independent of these corrections, we find a lower bound on the intermediate
scale,
  $M_R > 10^9$ GeV, arising from the requirement that the theory must remain
perturbative at least upto the GUT scale. We show that in the doublet model
$M_R$ can even be in the TeV region which, apart from permitting resonant
leptogenesis, can be tested at LHC and ILC.
