India Has New State Called Telangana

Celebrations including fireworks and drumming ushered in India's newest state Monday.

Telangana - created from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh - is the country's 29th state and represents the culmination of a decades-long separatist campaign.

Telangana supporters said the northern land-locked area remains undeveloped and its residents face discrimination in the allocation of funds, water and jobs compared to the southern coastal portion of Andhra Pradesh.

Regional political leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao was sworn in as Telangana's chief minister in a ceremony in the technology hub, Hyderabad. He vowed to root out corruption and make government more transparent.

Regional political leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao was sworn in as Telangana's chief minister in a ceremony in the technology hub, Hyderabad.

Modi congratulates Rao

New Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Rao. In a post on Twitter, Modi said, "Telangana will add strength to our development journey in the coming years."

Hyderabad is where Google, Microsoft and Dell have major sites, Reuters reported. It is also quickly becoming a hub for Indian "start-up" firms.

The city will serve as the capital of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the next 10 years, after which Andhra Pradesh will develop a new capital city.

Telangana, with a population of 35 million, is comprised of 10 districts.

Telangana supporters have been fighting for a separate state since 1956.

The last new states to be created in India were Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh in 2000. Similar demands for statehood are being seen in the eastern Indian states of Assam and West Bengal.