K Chandrasekhar Rao
K Chandarasekhar RaoFacebook/VoiceOfTelangana

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hailed the formation of Telangana, the 29th state of India and promised a complete support from the centre to the people and government of the new state.

Modi said that Telangana will add strength to the country's development and help the nation reach its 'heights'. Saying that the birth of the new state came after years of struggle and sacrifices by several people, he also paid respects to them on Monday.

"India gets a new state! We welcome Telangana as our 29th state. Telangana will add strength to our development journey in the coming years," he said in the micro-blogging site, Twitter.

"Center assures complete support to the people and Government of Telangana in taking the state to newer heights of progress," he said.

"My best wishes to people from the state's development journey," the Prime Minister added.

Modi's comment came hours after India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh was formally split in to two, with its northern area carved out to create the much-talked-about state, Telangana.

The move followed after many protests by residents of the area, who were of the opinion that the region had been long neglected.

Telangana officially came into existence at midnight on Monday to become the country's 29th state. It has a population of 35 million, and includes the former districts of Andhra Pradesh and the city of Hyderabad – which will be the joint capital of the two states for the next 10 years.

K Chandrasekhar Rao, of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party – the organization that has been spearheading the movement for separation for over 14 years – has been sworn in as the chief minister for Telangana. Soon after Rao was sworn in to the post, Prime Minister congratulated him via Twitter.

This comes after a notification was issued early on Monday revoking President's Rule in Telengana to allow Rao to take charge as the first Chief Minister of the new state.