Telangana

Telangana was formed in 2014, separated from Andhra Pradesh, and lies on the Deccan plateau in southern India. The capital is Hyderabad, which it shared with Andhra Pradesh until the separation was completed. The Godavari and Krishna cross the state, and the upland districts to the west and north are semi-arid.

Hyderabad is one of India’s main technology and pharmaceutical centres, with a large information-technology district, a vaccine and bulk-drug manufacturing cluster, and a substantial defence-electronics presence. The state has invested heavily in irrigation, most visibly the Kaleshwaram project on the Godavari, which was intended to water the northern districts but has run into structural problems at its Medigadda barrage and repeated cost escalation. Rice has become a surplus crop, and the state runs a large procurement and investment-support programme for farmers.

Hyderabad was ruled by the Nizams until 1948, when it was annexed to India after a brief military operation, and the city’s monuments — the Charminar, the Golconda fort and the Qutb Shahi tombs — date from that period. The state’s politics since 2014 has turned on the promise of separate statehood and on the distribution of irrigation water and welfare payments.