HYDERABAD: Telanganahas has become the 29th state of India after the country’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh formally split into two, while Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrashekhar Rao was sworn-in as its first Chief Minister.
The new state has a population of 35 million and comprises 10 former districts of Andhra Pradesh and the city of Hyderabad.
Telangana has been carved out of an impoverished northern area of Andhra Pradesh state. Hyderabad, an IT hub home to giants Google and Microsoft, will serve as the capital of both states for the next decade.
The campaign to create a separate state in one of India’s most economically deprived regions began in the late 1950s, with its champions arguing the region has been neglected by successive state governments.