Telangana State Guide: History, Government, Elections, Exams

Overview

Telangana is a landlocked state on the Deccan plateau in south-central India, and the youngest state of the Union. It was formed on 2 June 2014 when the Telugu-speaking north-western part of the old Andhra Pradesh was separated under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. It is counted as the 29th state. Its capital, and by far its largest city, is Hyderabad. The state has an area of about 112,077 sq km (the state government's profile; Wikipedia gives 112,076), which makes it the 11th largest state by area. It is bordered by Maharashtra to the north and north-west, Chhattisgarh to the north-east, Karnataka to the west and south-west, and Andhra Pradesh to the south and east. See Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh for the neighbours.

The land is a high, dry plateau drained by two big peninsular rivers, the Godavari in the north and the Krishna in the south, with the Manjira, Musi, Pranahita and Tungabhadra among the tributaries and local rivers. As on October 2026 the state has 33 districts. Census 2011, the latest published census, counted 35,003,674 people in the territory of today's state, which is the 12th largest population among the states. Telugu is the official language, and Urdu is the second official language across the whole state.

Telangana was the Telugu-speaking core of the Nizam's Hyderabad State until 1956 and part of Andhra Pradesh from 1956 to 2014. Its older history includes the Satavahanas, the Kakatiyas of Warangal, the Qutb Shahi sultans of Golconda and the Asaf Jahi Nizams.

One point trips up many aspirants: the 2014 Act made Hyderabad a common capital of both states for a period of not more than ten years. That period ended on 2 June 2024. As on October 2026 Hyderabad is the capital of Telangana alone, and Andhra Pradesh has been given Amaravati as its capital in law (see Andhra Pradesh).

The Telangana High Court at Hyderabad has been separate since 1 January 2019. This guide names only past office-holders; for the current ones see current affairs.

For exam preparation

• Telangana was formed on 2 June 2014 under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, as the 29th state; the capital is Hyderabad.
• The area is about 112,077 sq km, and the state is landlocked.
• As on October 2026 there are 33 districts; Census 2011 population is 35,003,674 (adjusted for the seven mandals given to Andhra Pradesh).
• Hyderabad served as a common capital of both states for up to ten years; the period ended on 2 June 2024.
• The official language is Telugu; Urdu is the second official language (Telangana Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 2017).

History

The history of Telangana is the story of a plateau that was ruled from a few great fort-capitals: Kotilingala and the Satavahana towns, Orugallu (Warangal), Golconda and then Hyderabad. The last of these, the Nizam's state, kept the region separate from the coastal Telugu districts until 1948, and the memory of that separation shaped the demand for statehood. This section runs from the earliest kingdoms to the day Telangana was formed.

Early history and the Satavahanas

The early Buddhist texts speak of the Assaka (Aśmaka) mahajanapada, one of the sixteen great states of the sixth century BCE and the only one in the south. It is usually placed on the Godavari, and Bodhan in Nizamabad district is a common identification of its capital, though that identification is a scholarly opinion.

The Satavahana dynasty is the first well-documented power. Wikipedia dates it from about 230 BCE to about 220 CE, with 29 rulers over some 456 years; scholars differ on the exact dates, and many place the beginning later. Excavations at Kotilingala in Karimnagar district yielded Satavahana coins, including coins of Simuka, the founder, and many scholars identify the place as the earliest Satavahana capital. Phanigiri, Dhulikatta, Nelakondapalli and Kondapur were Buddhist centres of the same period, with stupas and monasteries. Later Deccan powers, from whom the Kakatiyas rose as feudatories, ruled the region after the Satavahanas.

The Kakatiyas of Warangal

The Kakatiya dynasty ruled for about 160 years, from 1163 (when Prataparudra I declared independence from his Chalukya overlords) to 1323. The capital was Orugallu, the modern Warangal, in the dry uplands of northern Telangana. The main rulers were:

Ruler	Reign (Wikipedia)	Note
Ganapati Deva	1199 to 1262	Expanded into the Telugu delta country; brought most Telugu lands under one rule
Rudrama Devi	1262 to 1289	One of the few queens to rule India in her own name; Marco Polo praised her rule
Prataparudra II	1289 to 1323	Last ruler; faced Delhi Sultanate invasions

The Kakatiyas are remembered for tank irrigation, with the sources reporting some 5,000 tanks, many still in use, and for temples. The Ramappa (Rudreshwara) temple at Palampet was begun in 1213 and took about 40 years to build; it is named after its sculptor, which is unusual in India, and it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in July 2021. Malik Kafur's siege of Warangal in 1310 made Prataparudra II a tributary, and in 1323 an army under Ulugh Khan ended the kingdom. The ruler is believed to have died in captivity. The Musunuri Nayaks held Warangal from about 1330 to 1368.

The Bahmanis and the Qutb Shahis of Golconda

After the Musunuris the plateau came under the Bahmani Sultanate. Sultan Quli, a Bahmani governor of the Telangana region, declared independence in 1518 and founded the Qutb Shahi dynasty, which ruled the Sultanate of Golconda until 1687. Golconda fort was the first capital. Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (reigned 1580 to 1612) founded Hyderabad in 1591 on the Musi river and built the Charminar the same year. He wrote poetry in Dakhni Urdu, Persian and Telugu. The kingdom grew rich on diamonds and on cotton textiles exported through Masulipatnam. In 1687 the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb took Golconda after a siege (Wikipedia says nine months; another summary says a year) and imprisoned the last Sultan, Abul Hasan.

The Asaf Jahi Nizams

In 1724 the Mughal viceroy Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I, defeated a rival governor and established his own state in the Deccan. Seven Nizams are recognised, and the dynasty ruled Hyderabad State until 1948, about 224 years. Hyderabad became the formal capital in 1769. In 1798 the Nizam signed a subsidiary alliance with the English East India Company, accepting a British Resident and troops in return for protection, and so entered the princely order of British India.

At its height Hyderabad was the largest princely state, with about 223,000 sq km spread across the Deccan (Wikipedia). The 1941 Census recorded about 7.5 million Telugu, 3.9 million Marathi, 1.7 million Kannada and 2.2 million Urdu speakers. The seventh and last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, reigned from 1911 to 1948. His rule saw Osmania University, railways, electricity and the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar reservoirs. Much of the countryside was held as jagirs (noble estates) and by landlords, and agrarian anger grew in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Telangana armed struggle and Operation Polo

Between 1946 and 1951 a communist-led peasant revolt, the Telangana armed struggle, spread across the region against landlords and forced labour. After Indian independence in 1947 the Nizam did not accede to either India or Pakistan. In November 1947 Hyderabad signed a Standstill Agreement with India, which kept earlier arrangements in place. The Razakars, an irregular militia led by Qasim Razvi and said to have reached up to 200,000 members at its peak, backed the Nizam's rule, and their violence in the countryside became one of the reasons the Union government gave for acting.

On 13 September 1948 Indian troops entered Hyderabad in a police action code-named Operation Polo. The Hyderabad army surrendered at 5 p.m. on 17 September 1948, after about five days. The campaign was followed by violence in the districts, mostly against Muslims, and the death toll is disputed. The Sunderlal Committee (a government-appointed team that was not published at the time) is reported to have put it at 30,000 to 40,000, while some observers have given far higher figures; no single number is reliable. J. N. Chaudhuri served as Military Governor until civilian rule. On 24 November 1949 the Nizam issued a firman accepting the Constitution of India, he signed an instrument of accession on 25 January 1950, and on 26 January 1950, the day India became a republic, he became Rajpramukh (the nominal governor) of Hyderabad State.

Hyderabad State, 1948 to 1956

M. K. Vellodi, a civil servant, was the first Chief Minister after the integration, in 1950. The first general election, in 1952, made Burgula Ramakrishna Rao the first elected Chief Minister. Hyderabad State stayed a multi-lingual state of Telugu, Marathi and Kannada districts until 1956.

Merger with Andhra Pradesh, 1956

Andhra State had been carved out of Madras State in 1953 on a Telugu linguistic basis. The States Reorganisation Commission looked at Hyderabad and at first recommended that Telangana be kept as a separate unit, but the recommendation was not followed. On 1 November 1956 the Telangana region was merged with Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh, with Hyderabad as the capital; the Marathi-speaking districts of Hyderabad State went to Bombay State and the Kannada-speaking districts to Mysore State (the present Maharashtra and Karnataka). A "gentlemen's agreement" of February 1956 between leaders of the two regions promised safeguards for Telangana in jobs, education and the use of its revenue. For the Andhra side of the same story see Andhra Pradesh.

The Telangana movement

Telangana felt that the safeguards were not kept, and the Mulki rules, which reserved government jobs for long-term residents, became the symbol of the dispute.

Year	Event
1969	Student-led agitation for the safeguards grew into a demand for a separate state; the Telangana Praja Samithi was formed
1971	The Telangana Praja Samithi won 10 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats of the region (Wikipedia); its leaders later rejoined Congress
1972	Counter-agitation in the coastal and Rayalaseema regions ("Jai Andhra") after a Supreme Court ruling upholding the Mulki rules
1973	The Six-Point Formula settled the dispute for a time and was given constitutional effect by the 32nd Amendment (Article 371D)
2001	The Telangana Rashtra Samithi was formed in April with statehood as its single goal
9 Dec 2009	The Union government announced it would begin the process of forming Telangana
23 Dec 2009	The process was put on hold after protests in other regions
Feb 2010 to Jan 2011	The Srikrishna Committee was appointed and reported, with its preferred option a united state with safeguards and the "second best" option, as reported, a division
Sep to Oct 2011	A long general strike, reported as 42 days, by government employees and others
30 Jul 2013	The Congress Working Committee unanimously backed a separate Telangana

The 2014 bifurcation

The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly rejected the bill on 30 January 2014, but Parliament passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 on 18 February (Lok Sabha) and 20 February (Rajya Sabha). The President gave his assent on 1 March 2014, and the appointed day was 2 June 2014, when Telangana became a state with ten districts.

Provision	Detail
Territory	Ten districts: Hyderabad, Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy and Warangal
Assembly seats	Telangana 119 (Andhra Pradesh 175)
Lok Sabha seats	Telangana 17 (Andhra Pradesh 25)
Rajya Sabha seats	Telangana 7 (Andhra Pradesh 11)
Capital	Hyderabad as a common capital for not more than ten years, under the Governor's supervision
High Court	One common court at first; separate courts from 1 January 2019
Polavaram	Seven mandals of Khammam district went to Andhra Pradesh in 2014 for the project's submergence area

The ten-year common-capital period ended on 2 June 2024. In April 2026, as reported in our Andhra Pradesh guide, a parliamentary amendment named Amaravati as that state's capital from the same date.

For exam preparation

• The Satavahanas are dated by Wikipedia from about 230 BCE to about 220 CE; Kotilingala is a candidate for their earliest capital.
• The Kakatiyas ruled from Orugallu (Warangal) from 1163 to 1323; Ganapati Deva (1199 to 1262) and Rudrama Devi (1262 to 1289) are the best known rulers.
• The Ramappa temple at Palampet was begun in 1213 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2021.
• The Qutb Shahi dynasty was founded in 1518; Hyderabad and the Charminar date from 1591; Golconda fell to Aurangzeb in 1687.
• The Asaf Jahi dynasty began in 1724; the subsidiary alliance was signed in 1798; the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, ruled from 1911 to 1948.
• Operation Polo ran from 13 to 17 September 1948; the Nizam signed the instrument of accession on 25 January 1950.
• Telangana merged with Andhra State on 1 November 1956; the Act was passed on 18 and 20 February 2014, assented on 1 March 2014, and took effect on 2 June 2014.

Geography

Telangana sits on the northern Deccan plateau, centred at about 17°54′N 79°18′E (Wikipedia). It is 769 km long and 515 km wide, with an average height of about 256 m and its highest point at Doli Gutta, 965 m (both Wikipedia). It has no coast. The plateau is cut by the Godavari and Krishna systems, has dry deciduous forest, a semi-arid climate, and large coal and limestone resources.

Location and boundaries

Telangana's neighbours are Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh on the north, Karnataka on the west, and Andhra Pradesh on the south and east. Much of the north boundary follows rivers: the Penganga and Wardha rivers lie between Adilabad and Maharashtra, and the Godavari lies near the Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra borders in the north-east. The state became smaller on one edge in 2014, when seven mandals of Khammam district were moved to Andhra Pradesh for the Polavaram project.

Physiography

The land is a plateau of ancient rock. Most of the state rests on very old granite and gneiss (the Peninsular shield). There are Gondwana sedimentary rocks, with coal, in the valley of the Pranahita and Godavari; Deccan Trap basalt in the north-west; and hills of the Eastern Ghats edge and the Nallamala range in the east and south-east. This is a standard textbook description, not drawn from a state publication. The general height of the plateau is a few hundred metres, falling gradually from the north-west towards the south-east.

In the north, Adilabad and the neighbouring districts have forested hills and the Kawal area. In the centre are the plains of Karimnagar, Warangal, Medak and Nizamabad, with many tanks. In the south, Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda have rocky, drier country, and the Nallamala hills with the Amrabad plateau lie to the south-east on the Krishna. The east, in Bhadradri Kothagudem and Mulugu districts, carries thick forest, the Godavari gorge and the Eastern Ghats margin.

Rivers

Two river systems drain the state. The Godavari basin takes the larger northern part and the Krishna basin the south. One source records 14 mapped rivers for Telangana. Basin-share percentages are not quoted because the sources conflict.

River	In Telangana
Godavari	Longest river of the state; flows through the north and east; Pranahita, Manjira, Maner and others join it
Pranahita	Largest tributary of the Godavari; carries the combined flow of the Wardha and Penganga
Manjira	Godavari tributary; Singur reservoir, Manjira Wildlife Sanctuary on it
Maner	Godavari tributary in Karimnagar region
Krishna	Enters in the south-west; Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar are on it
Tungabhadra	Krishna tributary at the south-west edge, near Gadwal
Bhima	Krishna tributary in the west (Vikarabad and Mahabubnagar region)
Musi	Krishna tributary; flows through Hyderabad; fed by the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar
Dindi	Krishna tributary in Nalgonda and Nagarkurnool region

The table's placements are standard textbook geography. The main reservoirs and projects named in Wikipedia's summary are Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam on the Krishna, Sriram Sagar (Pochampad) and Kaleshwaram on the Godavari, and the older Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar near Hyderabad. The use of the two rivers' water is shared with Andhra Pradesh through the Krishna and Godavari river management boards set up by the 2014 Act.

Climate

The climate is semi-arid and tropical, with the south-west monsoon bringing most rain from June to September. Wikipedia reports that the north of the state gets about 900 to 1,500 mm a year, the south about 700 to 900 mm, and the monsoon season about 755 mm on average. Summer runs from March to May with average peaks of about 37 to 38 degrees Celsius, and heat waves can be sharp in the north, in the Godavari coalfield towns. Winter, from late November to early February, is mild, with typical highs around 22 to 23 degrees. An agricultural university listing, seen only as a search result, gives three agro-climatic zones (Northern about 900 to 1,100 mm, Central about 780 to 1,210 mm, Southern about 600 to 850 mm); treat these as reported.

Soils

Four soil groups are named in the sources: red soils (sandy and clayey red loams), black cotton soils (regur), lateritic soils and river alluvium. Red soils are the most widespread. Black soils are common in the north and in Medak and Nizamabad; the share of each varies by zone in the university source (for example, red soils about 45 per cent and black about 24 per cent in the northern zone), and no state-wide percentage is quoted here.

Forests

Forest cover has increased in recent surveys. The India State of Forest Report series gave 19,854 sq km in 2015, 20,582 sq km in 2019 and 21,214 sq km in 2021 (as quoted in the state's Socio Economic Outlook 2023). Our calculation puts the 2021 figure at about 18.9 per cent of the state's area. The recorded forest area, which is a legal classification, is 26,969.61 sq km, or 24.06 per cent of the geographical area. The figures from the 2023 report were not confirmed for this guide. The main type is dry deciduous forest (teak, bamboo, tendu and others), and the state is part of the Central Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forest ecoregion. Wikipedia reports 65 sacred groves.

Minerals

According to the Indian Bureau of Minerals (Indian Minerals Yearbook 2022, state review), Telangana is a leading producer of barytes, dolomite, feldspar, laterite, limestone, quartz and sand. The report says the state accounts for 47 per cent of the country's kyanite resources, 29 per cent of corundum, 10 per cent of fuller's earth and 9 per cent of limestone. It also notes the black, pink, blue and multicoloured granites known abroad.

Coal is the best known resource. The Godavari Valley coalfield held 23,186 million tonnes of coal resources (proved, indicated and inferred) as on 1 April 2023 according to the Coal Directory of India, which the Yearbook cites. The coal districts named are Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam and Warangal, in their pre-2016 names, and the mining belt now lies in Mancherial, Peddapalli, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Jayashankar Bhupalpally and nearby districts. Singareni Collieries, owned jointly by the Telangana and Union governments, mines most of it. Limestone sits in the south and north-west for cement, and the other minerals include iron ore, manganese, mica and china clay.

Wildlife and protected areas

Telangana has three national parks, notified in 1994, all in or beside Hyderabad: Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, Mahavir Harina Vanasthali and Mrugavani. It has two tiger reserves, Amrabad and Kawal, and seven further wildlife sanctuaries (nine in all when the two reserves are counted as sanctuaries). A source reports the protected network at about 7,260 sq km, 27 per cent of forest area.

Area	Type	Area (sq km) and notes
Amrabad	Tiger reserve	2,166.37; the Telangana part of the old Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam reserve after the 2014 split
Kawal	Tiger reserve	892.23; dry deciduous forest on the Godavari, Adilabad region
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy	National park	About 1.4; Hyderabad
Mahavir Harina Vanasthali	National park	14.59; deer park near Hyderabad
Mrugavani	National park	3.60; Hyderabad
Eturnagaram	Sanctuary	Mulugu district; Telangana's older sanctuary in Godavari forests
Pakhal	Sanctuary	Warangal area (older records); lake and forest
Kinnerasani	Sanctuary	Bhadradri Kothagudem area (older records: Khammam)
Pranahita	Sanctuary	Adilabad and Mancherial region
Manjira	Sanctuary	Crocodile sanctuary on the Manjira; Sangareddy
Pocharam	Sanctuary	Medak and Kamareddy area
Lanja Madugu Siwaram	Sanctuary	Northern Telangana

Tigers, leopards, gaur, sambar, chital, nilgai, sloth bear and the marsh crocodile are among the species listed in the sources for Kawal and Manjira. Hyderabad was named a "Tree City of the World" in 2020 and 2021 (Socio Economic Outlook 2023). Sanctuary areas were not available in the sources opened.

For exam preparation

• Telangana lies on the Deccan plateau, has no sea coast, and its highest point is Doli Gutta at 965 m (Wikipedia).
• The two river systems are the Godavari (north) and the Krishna (south); the Pranahita, Manjira and Maner join the Godavari, and the Musi, Bhima, Dindi and Tungabhadra join the Krishna.
• Recorded forest area is 26,969.61 sq km (24.06 per cent); forest cover in ISFR 2021 was 21,214 sq km.
• The Godavari Valley coalfield held 23,186 million tonnes of coal resources on 1 April 2023; Singareni Collieries mines it.
• The state has three national parks (Hyderabad area, 1994) and two tiger reserves, Amrabad and Kawal.

Administration and districts

As on October 2026, Telangana has 33 districts, which have been unchanged since Mulugu and Narayanpet were added on 17 February 2019. There are no state-level revenue divisions like those of some other states; instead the districts are grouped for recruitment into 7 zones and 2 multi-zones. Below the district come revenue divisions (74 reported) and revenue mandals (612 reported). The state government announced in January 2026 that it would appoint a commission to review districts, mandals and divisions, so check the count before an exam.

Zones, multi-zones and commissionerates

The zonal system comes from the Telangana Public Employment (Organization of Local Cadres and Regulation of Direct Recruitment) Order, 2018, issued by the President. It reserves most government jobs for local candidates (reported as 95 per cent). The seven zones, as listed in a source that predates the two 2019 districts, are:

Multi-zone	Zone	Districts
I	Kaleshwaram (Zone 1)	Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Peddapalli, Jayashankar Bhupalpally
I	Basara (Zone 2)	Adilabad, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jagtial
I	Rajanna (Zone 3)	Karimnagar, Siddipet, Rajanna Sircilla, Kamareddy, Medak
I	Bhadradri (Zone 4)	Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam, Mahabubabad, Warangal and Hanamakonda (earlier Warangal Rural and Urban)
II	Yadadri (Zone 5)	Suryapet, Nalgonda, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Jangaon
II	Charminar (Zone 6)	Hyderabad, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Ranga Reddy, Sangareddy
II	Jogulamba (Zone 7)	Vikarabad, Mahabubnagar, Jogulamba Gadwal, Wanaparthy, Nagarkurnool

Which zones the later districts of Mulugu and Narayanpet were placed in is not confirmed here. Another set of units, the police commissionerates, was reorganised on 29 December 2025 in the Hyderabad region, giving four commissionerates: Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Malkajgiri (the earlier Rachakonda, renamed) and a new Future City commissionerate covering Chevella, Moinabad, Shankarpally, Maheshwaram and Ibrahimpatnam. Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, which was part of Rachakonda, became a separate police unit. Warangal and Karimnagar also have commissionerates; reports of others (Khammam, Nizamabad, Ramagundam, Siddipet) were not confirmed.

District table

Area and population are Census 2011 with 2011 boundaries, from the Wikipedia district list, whose totals match the state figures (112,077 sq km; 35,003,674 people). Zone numbers follow the source above.

District	Headquarters	Zone	Area (sq km)	Population 2011
Adilabad	Adilabad	2	4,153	708,972
Kumuram Bheem Asifabad	Asifabad	1	4,878	515,812
Mancherial	Mancherial	1	4,016	807,037
Nirmal	Nirmal	2	3,845	709,418
Nizamabad	Nizamabad	2	4,288	1,571,022
Jagtial	Jagtial	2	2,419	985,417
Peddapalli	Peddapalli	1	2,236	795,332
Kamareddy	Kamareddy	3	3,652	972,625
Rajanna Sircilla	Sircilla	3	2,019	552,037
Karimnagar	Karimnagar	3	2,128	1,005,711
Jayashankar Bhupalpally	Bhupalpally	1	2,293	416,763
Sangareddy	Sangareddy	6	4,403	1,527,628
Medak	Medak	3	2,786	767,428
Siddipet	Siddipet	3	3,632	1,012,065
Jangaon	Jangaon	5	2,188	566,376
Hanamakonda	Hanamakonda	4	1,309	1,080,858
Warangal	Warangal	4	2,175	718,537
Mulugu	Mulug	not confirmed	3,881	257,744
Bhadradri Kothagudem	Kothagudem	4	7,483	1,069,261
Khammam	Khammam	4	4,361	1,401,639
Mahabubabad	Mahabubabad	4	2,877	774,549
Suryapet	Suryapet	5	3,607	1,099,560
Nalgonda	Nalgonda	5	7,122	1,618,416
Yadadri Bhuvanagiri	Bhuvanagiri	5	3,092	739,448
Medchal-Malkajgiri	Shamirpet	6	1,084	2,440,073
Hyderabad	Hyderabad	6	217	3,943,323
Ranga Reddy	Shamshabad	6	5,031	2,446,265
Vikarabad	Vikarabad	7	3,386	927,140
Narayanpet	Narayanpet	not confirmed	2,336	566,874
Mahabubnagar	Mahabubnagar	7	2,738	919,903
Nagarkurnool	Nagarkurnool	7	6,545	893,308
Wanaparthy	Wanaparthy	7	2,152	577,758
Jogulamba Gadwal	Gadwal	7	2,928	609,990

The largest district by area is Bhadradri Kothagudem (7,483 sq km) and the smallest is Hyderabad (217 sq km). Hyderabad is also the most populous (3,943,323), and Mulugu the least (257,744). Warangal Urban and Warangal Rural were renamed Hanamakonda and Warangal.

Formation of new districts

At formation in 2014 Telangana had 10 districts. On 11 October 2016 (Dussehra) 21 new districts were created, bringing the total to 31, and on 17 February 2019 Mulugu and Narayanpet raised it to 33. Wikipedia also lists Armoor, Miryalaguda and Bhadrachalam as proposals, with no creation reported. The state government announced on 12 January 2026 that a commission headed by a retired High Court or Supreme Court judge would review districts, revenue divisions and mandals, and a report said the commission would have six months. Another report says the review of revenue divisions would begin only after 2027. We found no new district in 2025 or 2026 in the sources opened.

Local government

Rural areas have the three-tier Panchayati Raj system: gram panchayats at village level, mandal parishads and zilla parishads. The state government's profile lists 12,769 gram panchayats. The elections of December 2025 were held in three phases, on 11, 14 and 17 December, for 12,728 sarpanch posts and 112,242 ward member posts, with reported turnouts of about 84 per cent in the first phase and about 86 per cent in the second.

Urban areas are governed under the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019, and for Hyderabad by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955. The state profile lists 141 towns and 13 municipal corporations; that count predates the changes of 2025 and 2026 and is not confirmed for today. In late 2025 the government merged 27 neighbouring urban local bodies into Greater Hyderabad (reported on 21 November and effective on 2 December 2025 in different sources), and on 11 February 2026 it split the enlarged city into three corporations: Greater Hyderabad (GHMC), Cyberabad and Malkajgiri. A press report puts the wards at 150, 76 and 74, which add up to 300. The old council's term ended on 10 February 2026, and no election to the three bodies was reported in the sources opened.

Fifth Schedule areas

Telangana has Scheduled Areas under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, where the Governor can regulate tribal land transfers and the administration of the area. The areas were first notified in 1950 for the old Hyderabad and Andhra regions and modified in orders of 1951 and 1955. They lie in the forested tribal districts: Adilabad, Komaram Bheem (Kumuram Bheem) Asifabad, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu and Nagarkurnool among them. The exact list of mandals was not available, and none of the state is under the Sixth Schedule.

For exam preparation

• As on October 2026 Telangana has 33 districts: 10 at formation, 31 from 11 October 2016 and 33 from 17 February 2019 (Mulugu and Narayanpet).
• The recruitment structure is 7 zones in 2 multi-zones, from the Presidential Order of 2018.
• The largest district by area is Bhadradri Kothagudem and the smallest is Hyderabad (Census 2011 boundaries).
• Warangal Urban and Rural were renamed Hanamakonda and Warangal.
• Greater Hyderabad was split into three corporations on 11 February 2026; the Hyderabad region has four police commissionerates since 29 December 2025.

Demography

Telangana had 35,003,674 people at Census 2011, which made it the 12th most populous state, with a density of 312 per sq km. The next census has not been published, so every figure below is from 2011 unless stated; a projection for 2026 is given only as an estimate.

Census 2011 table

The state figures below adjust for the seven Khammam mandals transferred to Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Our own arithmetic matches the figure in the Andhra Pradesh guide: 84,580,777 for the united state less 49,577,103 leaves 35,003,674.

Indicator (Census 2011)	Value
Population	35,003,674 (males 17,611,633; females 17,392,041)
Rank among states	12th
Decadal growth 2001 to 2011	13.58 per cent
Density	312 per sq km
Sex ratio	988 females per 1,000 males
Literacy	66.54 per cent (male 75.04; female 57.99), per the state profile
Rural / urban	213.95 lakh rural (61.12 per cent); 136.09 lakh urban (38.88 per cent)
Children 0 to 6 years	38.99 lakh (11.14 per cent)
Scheduled Castes	54.09 lakh (about 15.5 per cent, our calculation)
Scheduled Tribes	31.78 lakh (about 9.1 per cent, our calculation)

The original count before the transfer was higher, at about 35.19 million; the difference of 190,304 comes from the seven mandals. Some websites give 66.46 per cent for literacy, so check the question's source. A projection by the Technical Group of the National Commission on Population puts the population at about 38.67 million on 1 July 2026; it is an estimate, not a census count.

Urbanisation

The urban share rose from 19.27 per cent in 1961 to 38.88 per cent in 2011, above the national figure of 31.15 per cent (Wikipedia). Hyderabad, with its suburbs in Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri, holds a large part of the urban population; the three Hyderabad-area districts had about 8.8 million people in 2011 by our addition (3,943,323, 2,446,265 and 2,440,073).

Languages

Language	Share of population (Census 2011)
Telugu	75.51 per cent
Urdu	12.17 per cent
Lambadi (Banjara)	5.55 per cent
Marathi	1.77 per cent
Hindi	1.52 per cent

Telugu is the official language and Urdu the second official language across the state; the Telangana Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 2017 extended Urdu's status, which had earlier applied to nine of the ten Telangana districts, to the whole state. Gondi, Kolami, Koya and other tribal languages are also spoken, mostly in the north and east.

Religion

Religion	Share (Census 2011)
Hindus	85.03 per cent
Muslims	12.75 per cent
Christians	1.27 per cent
Buddhists	0.09 per cent
Sikhs	0.09 per cent
Jains	0.08 per cent

Tribes and communities

The state has 32 notified Scheduled Tribes, reported by a coaching-site summary, so treat the count as reported. The Lambada (Banjara) are the largest, followed by the Gond (Adilabad and Kumuram Bheem Asifabad), and the Koya, Yerukala, Kolam, Thoti and Chenchu are other groups. Three are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups: the Chenchu (Nallamala forests), Kolam and Thoti. Tribal people live mostly in Adilabad, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu and Nagarkurnool.

Human development and health

Wikipedia reports an HDI of 0.744 (2023, high), ranked 22nd among Indian states; we did not check the index's source. In the National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5), as reported in a search summary of the state fact sheet, the total fertility rate was 1.8, the infant mortality rate was 26 per 1,000 live births (30 in NFHS-4), and the contraceptive prevalence rate among married women was 68 per cent. The fertility rate is below the replacement level of 2.1.

For exam preparation

• Census 2011 population is 35,003,674 (males 17,611,633; females 17,392,041), the 12th largest among the states.
• The sex ratio is 988 and the density is 312 per sq km; the urban share is 38.88 per cent and the decadal growth was 13.58 per cent.
• Literacy is 66.54 per cent (state profile); male 75.04 and female 57.99.
• Telugu speakers are 75.51 per cent and Urdu speakers 12.17 per cent; Lambadi is third at 5.55 per cent.
• The Chenchu, Kolam and Thoti are the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups; the Lambada are the largest tribe.

How the state is governed

Telangana is governed under the parliamentary system set out in the Constitution of India: a Governor as constitutional head, a Chief Minister who leads an elected government, and a legislature with two Houses, the 119-member Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) and the 40-member Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council). The state came into being on 2 June 2014 as India's 29th state, carved out of Andhra Pradesh, and its capital is Hyderabad. This section describes structure, which stays the same from one government to the next. Names of sitting office-holders change, so this guide does not list them; for the current Governor, Chief Minister, ministers, Chief Secretary, DGP and Chief Justice, use the official state portal and our current affairs pages. Past office-holders with completed tenures are listed later in this part.

The executive

Office	Role	How filled
Governor	Constitutional head; summons, prorogues and dissolves the Assembly, gives assent to bills or reserves them for the President, appoints the Chief Minister; Chancellor of the state universities	Appointed by the President (Article 155), normally for five years, serving at the President's pleasure
Chief Minister	Head of the government; leads the council of ministers	Leader of the party or alliance that commands a majority in the Assembly, appointed by the Governor (Article 164)
Council of ministers	Runs the departments; collectively responsible to the Assembly	Article 164(1A) caps it at 15 per cent of the Assembly, with a floor of 12; 15 per cent of 119 is 17.85 (our calculation), and we have not confirmed how the state rounds it
Chief Secretary	Head of the civil service and the secretariat	Senior IAS officer chosen by the government
Director General of Police	Head of the state police	IPS officer, selected under the Supreme Court's Prakash Singh guidelines
Advocate General	Chief law officer of the state	Appointed by the Governor under Article 165

The Governor acts on the advice of the council of ministers except in the few matters where the Constitution gives discretion. The Chief Minister is the link between the Governor and the ministers, and a government stays in office only while it has the confidence of the Assembly.

Departments, secretariat and capital

Day-to-day administration runs through secretariat departments headed by Secretaries or Principal Secretaries under the Chief Secretary, with field work done through district collectors, revenue divisions and mandals. Part A of this guide covers the 33 districts and the local-body structure. The seat of government is Hyderabad. Under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad was to serve as a common capital of the two states for a period not exceeding ten years, with the Governor holding a special responsibility for the security of life, liberty and property in the city. The ten years counted from 2 June 2014, so the arrangement ran out in June 2024 (our inference from the Act's wording; the later working of the arrangement is not described here).

Constitutional and statutory bodies

Body	Basis	Note
Telangana Public Service Commission	Article 315; constituted by a government order of 8 August 2014 (as the commission's own history is reported)	Recruits to state services; created when the unified Andhra Pradesh commission was split
Telangana State Election Commission	Articles 243K and 243ZA (73rd and 74th Amendments)	Formed in September 2014; conducts panchayat and municipal elections
Telangana Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta	Andhra Pradesh Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayuktas Act, 1983, adapted to Telangana	Reported as operating from 2 June 2014; the adaptation order is dated 2016
Telangana High Court	Article 214	Separate from 1 January 2019; see next section
State Finance Commission	Article 243I	Recommends sharing of funds with local bodies; details of its present term not confirmed

The Chief Electoral Officer for Telangana, who runs Assembly and Lok Sabha elections for the Election Commission of India, is a different office from the State Election Commission, which runs local-body polls. Aspirants often confuse the two.

For exam preparation

• Telangana became the 29th state on 2 June 2014; Hyderabad is the capital.
• The Governor is appointed by the President under Article 155, and the Chief Minister by the Governor under Article 164.
• The ministry is capped at 15 per cent of the Assembly, with a minimum of 12 ministers (Article 164(1A)).
• The Public Service Commission acts under Article 315; the State Election Commission under Articles 243K and 243ZA.
• Hyderabad was a common capital with Andhra Pradesh for up to ten years under the 2014 Act.

Legislature, Parliament and judiciary

Telangana has a two-House legislature: the Vidhan Sabha of 119 members and the Vidhan Parishad of 40 members. The state sends 7 members to the Rajya Sabha and 17 to the Lok Sabha. These numbers came from the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which split the Rajya Sabha seats of the old state 7 and 11 between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and the Lok Sabha seats 17 and 25. The latest Assembly election was held on 30 November 2023, and the latest Lok Sabha election in May 2024.

Vidhan Sabha

The Legislative Assembly was constituted on 9 June 2014, shortly after the state was formed, and meets in the Assembly building in Hyderabad. Its normal term is five years. The first Assembly was dissolved early, on 6 September 2018, and the second ran from the elections of December 2018. The third Assembly was elected in December 2023 and its first session met on 9 December 2023. The majority mark is 60. Of the 119 seats, 19 are reserved for Scheduled Castes, 12 for Scheduled Tribes and 88 are General (Wikipedia's constituency list; one other page summary gave different numbers, which we did not accept because 19 and 12 add up with the 88 to 119).

The result of the 2023 election, the latest, is below. Strength changes through by-elections, resignations and defections, so we give the election result and not the live position. For the live position, see the Assembly website.

Party	Seats, 2023 election
Indian National Congress (INC)	64
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)	39
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	8
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)	7
Communist Party of India (CPI)	1
Total	119

The Assembly elects a Speaker and Deputy Speaker from among its members at its first sittings after an election. The Speaker presides over the House, decides questions of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) and cannot be removed except by a resolution of the House.

Vidhan Parishad

The Legislative Council has existed since 2 June 2014, when it was inherited from the undivided state. It is a permanent House, which is not dissolved; members serve six-year terms and one-third retire every two years. Of its 40 members, 34 are elected and 6 are nominated by the Governor.

Category	Members
Elected by members of the Legislative Assembly	14
Elected by local authorities' constituencies	14
Elected by graduates	3
Elected by teachers	3
Nominated by the Governor (literature, science, art, cooperative movement, social service)	6
Total	40

The Council can delay an ordinary bill but cannot block it; the Assembly has the final say. It does not vote on money bills.

Parliament seats

Telangana's 17 Lok Sabha constituencies include three reserved for Scheduled Castes (Peddapalli, Warangal and Nagarkurnool) and two for Scheduled Tribes (Adilabad and Mahabubabad). The rest are General: Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Zahirabad, Medak, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chevella, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Bhongir and Khammam. The 7 Rajya Sabha members are elected by the MLAs through the single transferable vote; terms are six years, staggered. This guide does not list sitting MPs.

High Court and courts

The Telangana High Court sits at Hyderabad. It came into existence on 1 January 2019, when the common High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, which had served both states after 2014, was split. Its sanctioned strength is 42 judges, 32 permanent and 10 additional (Wikipedia; the figure can change by notification, so check the court's site). It works from the historic Indo-Saracenic building on the south bank of the Musi, which was inaugurated in 1920, and a new campus of about 100 acres at Budvel, Rajendranagar, is reported to be under construction. We did not find a separate bench outside Hyderabad (not confirmed). Below the High Court are the district and sessions courts, family, labour and other special courts, and subordinate magistrate and civil courts in each district; we did not verify the number of court complexes or sanctioned posts.

Other bodies

The Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta, the State Election Commission and the Public Service Commission are described in the previous section. The Chief Information Commission and the Human Rights Commission also operate in the state, but we did not verify their dates of constitution, so we leave them out.

For exam preparation

• The Assembly has 119 seats (19 SC, 12 ST, 88 General); the majority mark is 60.
• The Legislative Council has 40 members: 14 by MLAs, 14 by local authorities, 3 graduates, 3 teachers and 6 nominated.
• The state has 17 Lok Sabha seats (3 SC, 2 ST) and 7 Rajya Sabha seats.
• The High Court at Hyderabad has functioned separately since 1 January 2019.
• The first Assembly was dissolved early on 6 September 2018.

Elections

Telangana has held three Assembly elections since its formation: 2014, 2018 and 2023. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), later renamed the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), won the first two, taking 63 seats in 2014 and 88 in 2018. In December 2023 the Indian National Congress won 64 seats and formed the government, ending the BRS's nine and a half years in office. In Lok Sabha elections the BRS won 11 of 17 seats in 2014 and 9 in 2019, and none in 2024, when the Congress and the BJP won 8 each. The Council, local bodies and by-elections are covered below. Before 2014, Telangana's 119 seats were part of the 294-seat Andhra Pradesh Assembly.

Before 2014 in brief

For the undivided Andhra Pradesh, the 119 Telangana seats voted within the 294-seat Assembly. In 2004 the Congress won 185 seats statewide, and the TRS, then in alliance with the Congress, won 26 (TRS page on Wikipedia). In 2009 the Congress won 156 of 294, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) 92, the Praja Rajyam Party 18 and the TRS 10; the TRS contested as part of the Maha Kutami alliance that year. Statewide turnout was 72.72 per cent, and the Congress formed the government. We did not confirm a clean Telangana-only breakdown of the 2004 and 2009 results, so we do not give one. Those elections were the background to the statehood movement, described later in this part.

Vidhan Sabha elections, 2014 to 2023

Year	Seats	Party-wise seats	Government after the election
2014	119	TRS 63, INC 21, TDP 15, AIMIM 7, BJP 5, others 8	TRS
2018	119	TRS 88, INC 19, AIMIM 7, TDP 2, BJP 1, others 2	TRS
2023	119	INC 64, BRS 39, BJP 8, AIMIM 7, CPI 1	INC (with CPI support)

For 2014, the TRS, Congress and TDP figures are from Wikipedia's Elections in Telangana page, and the AIMIM and BJP figures from a news summary; the eight "other" seats are what remains of 119, and we did not confirm the split among them. For 2023, Wikipedia describes the Congress as winning a majority with its ally, the CPI, which gives 65.

Year	Electors	Turnout	Vote share of leading parties
2014	n/c (combined 2014 figure with Andhra Pradesh, 6.49 crore electors, turnout 74.68%)	n/c for Telangana alone	TRS 34.31%, INC 25.27%, TDP 14.73% (reported; another page gave different shares, so treat as approximate)
2018	2,80,75,912	73.74%	TRS 46.87%, INC 28.43%, BJP 6.98%, TDP 3.51%, AIMIM 2.71%
2023	3,26,18,257	71.97%	INC 39.40%, BRS 37.35%, BJP 13.90%, AIMIM 2.92%

Vote shares are from Wikipedia citing the Election Commission; use them for comparison, not exact answers. "n/c" means not confirmed.

2014: the first election

Telangana became a state on 2 June 2014, but its Assembly election came a month earlier. The vote in Telangana was held on 30 April 2014 together with the Lok Sabha election, with Andhra Pradesh voting on 7 May, and results came on 16 May 2014. The TRS won 63 of 119 seats, comfortably above the majority mark of 60. Its leader took oath as the first Chief Minister on the formation day, 2 June 2014. The Congress, which had steered the Reorganisation Act through Parliament, won 21 seats, and the TDP won 15. The Assembly was constituted on 9 June 2014.

2018: the early election

In September 2018 the Chief Minister resigned, and the Assembly was dissolved on 6 September 2018, about nine months before its term ended. Polling was held on 7 December 2018 and counting on 11 December. Turnout was 73.74 per cent of 2.81 crore electors. The Congress, the TDP, the CPI and the Telangana Jana Samithi fought as a four-party alliance named the Praja Kutami (People's Alliance), which won 21 seats in all. The TRS won 88 seats with 46.87 per cent of the vote, the highest figure in the state's history so far. The AIMIM held its 7 seats. The TRS government continued under the same leader for a second term.

2023: change of government

Polling was held on 30 November 2023 and counting on 3 December. Turnout was 71.97 per cent, a fall of 1.77 points from 2018, among 3.26 crore electors, of whom 2.35 crore voted. The BRS contested all 119 seats, the Congress 118, the BJP 111 and the BSP 107; the CPI(M) contested 19 seats and the AIMIM 9, and the Janasena Party 8. The Congress won 64 seats with 39.40 per cent and the BRS 39 with 37.35 per cent. The BJP won 8 seats on 13.90 per cent, up from one seat in 2018. A new Congress Chief Minister took oath on 7 December 2023, replacing the BRS leader who had held the post since 2014. The gap in vote share between the first two parties was about two percentage points, while the gap in seats was 25.

Lok Sabha elections

Election	Polling	Turnout	Seats by party	Vote share
2014	30 April 2014	n/c	TRS 11, INC 2, BJP 1, TDP 1, AIMIM 1, YSRCP 1	n/c
2019	11 April 2019	62.77%	TRS 9, BJP 4, INC 3, AIMIM 1	TRS 41.29%, INC 29.48%, BJP 19.45%, AIMIM 2.78%
2024	13 May 2024	66.30%	INC 8, BJP 8, AIMIM 1, BRS 0	INC 40.10%, BJP 35.19%, BRS 16.62%, AIMIM 3.01%

The 2024 election had 3,32,16,348 electors. The BRS, with no seat despite a 16.62 per cent vote share, saw its vote fall sharply from its 2019 level. In the 2024 result the Congress won Peddapalli, Zahirabad, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Bhongir, Warangal, Mahabubabad and Khammam. The BJP won Adilabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Medak, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Chevella and Mahabubnagar. The AIMIM held Hyderabad. The 2014 turnout for Telangana alone is not confirmed.

By-elections to the Assembly

Year	Constituency	Reason (reported)	Result
2016	Narayankhed and Palair	Vacancies in the first Assembly	TRS gained both seats from the Congress (Wikipedia)
2019	Huzurnagar	Sitting MLA elected to the Lok Sabha	TRS won, defeating the Congress (Wikipedia)
3 Nov 2020	Dubbak	Death of the sitting TRS member	BJP won, its first by-election win in the state
17 Apr 2021	Nagarjuna Sagar	Death of the sitting TRS member	TRS (later BRS) retained the seat
30 Oct 2021	Huzurabad	Resignation of the sitting member, who joined the BJP	BJP won with the same candidate
3 Nov 2022	Munugode	Resignation of the sitting Congress member	TRS (renamed BRS during 2022) won, defeating the Congress and BJP
13 May 2024	Secunderabad Cantonment	Death of the sitting BRS member on 23 February 2024	INC won (held with the Lok Sabha poll)
11 Nov 2025	Jubilee Hills	Death of the sitting BRS member on 8 June 2025	INC won with 98,988 votes (50.83%) against BRS at 74,259 (38.13%)

Dubbak and Huzurabad were the BJP's two early wins against the ruling party in the second Assembly. We have not listed by-elections held after November 2025 because we found no confirmed entry; check the Election Commission's site.

Local-body elections

Local elections in Telangana are run by the State Election Commission. They have been tied up since 2025 with the question of Backward Classes (BC) reservation.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). The GHMC has 150 wards. In 2016 the TRS won 99, the AIMIM 44, the BJP 4, the Congress 2 and the TDP 1. In the December 2020 election, the BRS (then TRS) won 56 wards (one news page gave 55), the BJP 48, the AIMIM 44 and the Congress 2; the TDP won none. The five-year council term ended in February 2026 (reported as 10 or 11 February; the sources differ). A special officer then took charge. Wikipedia reports that the corporation was reorganised into three bodies, the GHMC, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri corporations, under a Core Urban Region (Integrated Governance) Act, 2026. We could not confirm the Act's provisions or whether fresh elections to these bodies have been held, so we do not give a result.

Gram panchayats, December 2025. Elections to the village councils were held in three phases on 11, 14 and 17 December 2025. Turnout was reported at 84.28 per cent in the first phase and 85.86 per cent in the second. Panchayat elections are not fought on party symbols, so reports count candidates "backed" by parties. Reported tallies for 12,727 sarpanch posts were about 6,794 for Congress-backed candidates (over 53 per cent), about 3,503 for BRS-backed and about 697 for BJP-backed (Siasat, from early counts). The State Election Commission reportedly provided 17.08 per cent reservation for BCs in these polls, far below the 42 per cent that had been planned, because of the court orders described below.

Municipalities and corporations, February 2026. Municipal polls on a party basis were held in 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations, with counting on 13 February 2026; turnout was reported at over 73 per cent. Early counts reported the Congress at 1,347 municipal wards and the BRS at 716; the Congress led in corporations such as Ramagundam, Mancherial and Nalgonda, while the BJP was the largest party in Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad (news reports, not final tallies). Before this cycle, the state was described as having 9 municipal corporations and 107 municipalities (Wikipedia), so the counts changed; we have not verified the final list.

Mandal and Zilla Parishad polls. The elections to the MPTCs and ZPTCs, the block and district tiers, were held back in 2025 while the reservation dispute was in court. We could not confirm whether they have since been held, and give no result.

The 42 per cent BC quota, status as on 4 October 2026

• The idea. The Assembly passed bills in March 2025 to provide 42 per cent BC reservation in education and public jobs, and amendments to the Panchayat Raj and Municipalities Acts to lift the 50 per cent ceiling for local bodies. Reports differ on the exact dates and bill numbers; the Governor reserved them for the President, and an ordinance on the local-body cap was also sent to the President.
• The Government Order. On 26 September 2025 the state issued an order reserving 42 per cent of local-body seats and posts for BCs. On 9 October 2025 the High Court stayed it, and the State Election Commission suspended the polls. The Supreme Court then dismissed the state's appeal against the stay. The courts left the way open to hold elections with total reservation within the 50 per cent ceiling set in Indra Sawhney (1992).
• What happened next. Panchayat polls went ahead in December 2025 under the 50 per cent ceiling, with a smaller BC share.
• As on today. We found no confirmed report that the President has assented to or rejected the bills, nor a final High Court judgment on the Government Order. The position is therefore described as "pending, not confirmed". Check the latest news before quoting it in an exam.

Delimitation, reservation and voters

The 119 Assembly seats and 17 Lok Sabha seats are fixed by the 2014 Reorganisation Act and the delimitation orders; the freeze on readjusting seats runs until the first Census taken after 2026 (Articles 82 and 170, as amended). The Act's provision about increasing seats is not discussed here because we could not verify its present status. Of 119 Assembly seats, 19 are SC and 12 are ST; of 17 Lok Sabha seats, 3 are SC and 2 are ST. Electors have grown from 2.81 crore in 2018 to 3.26 crore in 2023 and 3.32 crore for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll. We did not verify the sex ratio of electors or the count of EPIC cards, so they are not given.

Firsts and records

• The TRS's 46.87 per cent in 2018 is the highest Assembly vote share in the state's three elections.
• The 2018 election followed the early dissolution of the first Assembly, nine months before its term ended.
• In 2020, the BJP won its first Telangana by-election, at Dubbak.
• In 2024 the BRS, the winner of 11 seats in 2014, won none.
• The 2014 Assembly election was held a month before the state formally came into being.

For exam preparation

• Assembly elections have been held in 2014, 2018 and 2023; the BRS (then TRS) won the first two with 63 and 88 seats.
• The 2023 result was INC 64, BRS 39, BJP 8, AIMIM 7, CPI 1; turnout was 71.97 per cent.
• The 2018 polling was on 7 December and counting on 11 December, after the Assembly was dissolved on 6 September 2018.
• Lok Sabha: BRS won 11 seats in 2014 and 9 in 2019; in 2024, INC 8, BJP 8, AIMIM 1.
• The by-elections include Dubbak (2020, BJP), Huzurabad (2021, BJP), Munugode (2022, TRS) and Jubilee Hills (2025, INC).
• The courts stayed the 42 per cent BC quota in local bodies on 9 October 2025; the 50 per cent ceiling comes from Indra Sawhney (1992).

Past Chief Ministers, Governors and office-holders

This section lists only completed tenures, which do not change. Since the state's formation there has been one completed term of Chief Ministership, spread over two consecutive Assemblies, and the post has since passed to the Chief Minister in office from December 2023, who is not named here. The Governors, Speakers and Chief Justices below include only those whose tenure has ended. Dates are from Wikipedia's lists and are not all cross-checked against official sites.

Chief Ministers

Name (party)	Tenure
K. Chandrashekar Rao (TRS, later BRS)	2 June 2014 to 6 December 2023 (about 9 years 6 months; elected in 2014 and 2018)
Incumbent	From 7 December 2023; not named here

K. Chandrashekar Rao had earlier founded the TRS on 27 April 2001, after resigning as Deputy Speaker of the undivided Andhra Pradesh Assembly.

Governors

Telangana's first Governor also held the post of Governor of Andhra Pradesh in the early years after the split.

Name	Tenure
E. S. L. Narasimhan	2 June 2014 to 7 September 2019 (the list shows additional charge until 23 July 2019, which we read as the joint charge with Andhra Pradesh; reported)
Tamilisai Soundararajan	8 September 2019 to 19 March 2024 (resigned)
C. P. Radhakrishnan	20 March 2024 to 30 July 2024 (additional charge)
Jishnu Dev Varma	31 July 2024 to 11 March 2026 (reported as transferred to Maharashtra)
Incumbent	From 11 March 2026; not named here

Speakers of the Assembly

Name (party)	Tenure
S. Madhusudhana Chary (TRS)	10 June 2014 to 17 January 2019
Pocharam Srinivas Reddy	18 January 2019 to 9 December 2023 (party not shown in our source)
Incumbent	From 14 December 2023; not named here

The Council Chairman's office also changed hands, but we did not confirm the full list of past Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen, so it is left out.

Chief Justices of the Telangana High Court

Name	Tenure
T. B. Radhakrishnan	1 January 2019 to 2 April 2019
Raghvendra Singh Chauhan	22 June 2019 to 6 January 2021
Hima Kohli	7 January 2021 to 30 August 2021
Satish Chandra Sharma	11 October 2021 to 27 June 2022
Ujjal Bhuyan	28 June 2022 to 13 July 2023
Alok Aradhe	23 July 2023 to 20 January 2025
Incumbent	From 19 July 2025; not named here

Several senior judges also served as acting Chief Justice between these tenures (Wikipedia lists M. S. R. Rao in 2021, and T. A. Goud for several spells in 2022 to 2023 and in 2025, among others). We have not confirmed these short spells against the court's own records, so do not rely on the exact day counts.

For exam preparation

• The first Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekar Rao, served from 2 June 2014 to 6 December 2023.
• The first Governor, E. S. L. Narasimhan, served from 2014 to 2019.
• The first Speaker served from 10 June 2014 to 17 January 2019.
• The first Chief Justice of the separate High Court served from 1 January 2019 for only three months.
• Four Governors have completed tenures since 2014, counting the one on additional charge in 2024 (our count from the list).

Political history and movements

Telangana's politics since 2001 is the story of one demand, a separate state, and what followed once it was met. The region had been part of the princely state of Hyderabad until 1948, was merged with Andhra State in 1956, and spent 58 years in a joint state before the Reorganisation Act of 2014. Part A describes the earlier history; this section covers the political movement and what has happened since.

Safeguards and the first agitations

• 1948. Hyderabad State was integrated into India.
• 1952. The Mulki rules, which protected local people's claims to government jobs in Hyderabad State, were put in place.
• 1953. The States Reorganisation Commission was set up to redraw states on linguistic lines.
• 1956. Telangana was merged with Andhra State, with a Gentlemen's Agreement that promised safeguards to the region.
• 1969. The first major agitation broke out, and the Telangana Praja Samithi was formed to demand a separate state.
• 1972. The Jai Andhra movement was launched by people in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.
• 1973. A Six-Point Formula was agreed as a political settlement between the regions.

Article 371-D and the Presidential Order

The Constitution (32nd Amendment) Act, 1973 inserted Article 371-D, which came into effect on 3 May 1974. It lets the President provide equal opportunities in public employment and education for people from different parts of the state, through Presidential Orders. This gave the Six-Point Formula a constitutional footing. Under it, a Presidential Order of 1975, called the Andhra Pradesh Public Employment (Organisation of Local Cadres and Regulation of Direct Recruitment) Order (name and year not re-verified against a source in this pass; reported), set up local cadres and zones for state-service recruitment. After 2014 Article 371-D continued to apply to both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and a fresh Presidential Order for Telangana in 2018 is reported to reserve 95 per cent of posts for local candidates, leaving 5 per cent open. The effect on state recruitment is covered in the exams part of this guide; we did not verify the zone structure here.

Rise of the TRS and the statehood campaign

• 2001. K. Chandrashekar Rao founded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi on 27 April with statehood as its single agenda.
• 2004. The TRS won 26 seats and allied with the Congress in the national UPA government.
• 2006. It withdrew from the UPA, citing the delay on statehood.
• 2009. The TRS contested as part of the Maha Kutami and won 10 Assembly seats. On 9 December 2009 the Union Home Minister announced that the process of forming Telangana would begin, which set off counter-protests in other regions. On 23 December 2009 the government reversed course pending consensus.
• 2010. The Srikrishna Committee was appointed to look at the demand.
• 2011. Large protests followed, including the Million March, resignations by legislators and the Sakala Janula Samme general strike.
• 2013. On 30 July the Congress Working Committee passed a resolution in favour of Telangana.

The Reorganisation Act, 2014

The Lok Sabha passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill on 18 February 2014 and the Rajya Sabha on 20 February. The Andhra Pradesh Assembly had rejected the bill on 30 January 2014, which Wikipedia calls the first time a state was reorganised after its Assembly expressed a clear opinion against it. The President gave assent on 1 March 2014, and the appointed day, 2 June 2014, is Telangana's formation day. The Act gave Telangana 119 Assembly seats and 17 Lok Sabha seats, and Hyderabad became a common capital for up to ten years.

Since formation

• 2014 to 2018. The first TRS government ruled with 63 seats and later gained strength through defections from other parties and by-elections (reported by Wikipedia in the by-election listing; we did not count the defections).
• 2018. The Assembly was dissolved nine months early; the TRS returned with 88 seats against a four-party alliance.
• 2019. The separate High Court began on 1 January.
• 2020 and 2021. The BJP won the Dubbak and Huzurabad by-elections and the GHMC election of December 2020 reduced the TRS to 56 of 150 wards.
• 5 October 2022. The TRS renamed itself the Bharat Rashtra Samithi to expand into national politics; the Election Commission approved the change in December 2022.
• 2023. The BRS won 39 seats and lost power to the Congress.
• 2024. The BRS won no Lok Sabha seat.
• 2025 to 2026. The 42 per cent BC reservation dispute, the December 2025 panchayat elections, the February 2026 municipal elections and the reorganisation of the GHMC. These are described under Elections.

Telangana has had no insurgency of the kind seen in some other states in this series, and we did not find a verified source on the security situation, so we say nothing further about it here.

For exam preparation

• The Telangana Rashtra Samithi was founded on 27 April 2001 and renamed the Bharat Rashtra Samithi on 5 October 2022.
• The Centre announced the process for Telangana on 9 December 2009 and reversed it on 23 December 2009.
• The Reorganisation Bill passed the Lok Sabha on 18 February 2014 and the Rajya Sabha on 20 February 2014.
• The state was formed on 2 June 2014 and is the 29th state.
• Article 371-D was added by the 32nd Amendment in 1973 and came into force on 3 May 1974.

Budget and governance

The latest budget is for 2026-27, presented on 20 March 2026 according to PRS Legislative Research, which we opened for this guide. The figures below are as on October 2026 and are budget estimates; check the state's finance department for revisions. We do not name the minister who presented it.

Item	2026-27 (Budget Estimate)
GSDP (projected)	Rs 19,61,701 crore, growth of 10 per cent over 2025-26
Total expenditure (excluding debt repayment)	Rs 3,01,209 crore, up 15 per cent
Total receipts (excluding borrowings)	Rs 2,42,750 crore
Revenue receipts	Rs 2,41,264 crore, up 18 per cent
Revenue expenditure	Rs 2,34,406 crore
Revenue surplus	Rs 6,858 crore, 0.3 per cent of GSDP (Rs 591 crore a year earlier)
Net borrowings	Rs 56,959 crore
Fiscal deficit	Rs 58,459 crore, 3 per cent of GSDP
Capital outlay	Rs 47,267 crore
Outstanding liabilities	28.7 per cent of GSDP

Per capita GSDP is reported by PRS at Rs 4,20,347, for 2024-25 and not for the budget year. Headline allocations are welfare of SC, ST, OBC and minority groups Rs 34,883 crore, education Rs 27,663 crore, agriculture and farmer support Rs 25,686 crore, health and family welfare Rs 13,997 crore, irrigation Rs 12,836 crore, Rythu Bharosa farmer support Rs 18,000 crore and power subsidy Rs 10,056 crore. We have not checked whether some of these overlap with the agriculture figure, so do not add them. New announcements included Rs 5 lakh insurance cover per family under the Indiramma Family Life Insurance Scheme, a breakfast scheme for pre-primary to intermediate students, a Chief Minister's Overseas Employment Programme and two lakh new Cheyutha pensions. PRS also notes that actual revenue receipts in 2024-25 were about 24 per cent short of the budget estimate, a point to remember when reading budget numbers.

For governance, we verified the creation of the Public Service Commission, State Election Commission and Lokayukta in 2014, the shift of the local-body polls to a party basis in the 2026 municipal elections, and the reorganisation of the GHMC area into three corporations (reported). We could not verify launch dates or coverage for the state's e-governance portals, or other citizen-service reforms, so they are not described here; check the state portal.

For exam preparation

• The 2026-27 budget was presented on 20 March 2026 (PRS); GSDP is projected at Rs 19,61,701 crore.
• The fiscal deficit target is 3 per cent of GSDP, Rs 58,459 crore.
• Total expenditure excluding debt repayment is Rs 3,01,209 crore, up 15 per cent.
• The revenue account shows a surplus of Rs 6,858 crore (budget estimate).
• Outstanding liabilities are 28.7 per cent of GSDP.

Economy

Telangana is one of India's richest large states per person, and it gets there mostly through one city. Hyderabad and the ring of districts around it produce software, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, aerospace parts and a growing base of global company back-offices, while the rest of the state runs on rice, cotton, maize and coal. As on October 2026, the state's own Socio Economic Outlook, as reported in the press, put gross state domestic product (GSDP) for 2025-26 at about ₹17.82 lakh crore on provisional advance estimates, growth of about 10.7% over 2024-25 at current prices. GSDP is the total value of goods and services produced inside a state in a year, and "current prices" means in that year's rupees, so inflation is included.

Size, growth and income

Indicator	Value	Source / note
GSDP, current prices, 2024-25	₹16.12 lakh crore, growth about 10%	Socio Economic Outlook 2025, as reported
GSDP, 2024-25, constant prices	Growth 6.8%	PRS Legislative Research, 2026-27 budget analysis
GSDP, current prices, 2025-26 (provisional advance)	About ₹17.82 lakh crore, growth about 10.7%	Socio Economic Outlook 2026, as reported
GSDP, 2026-27 (budget projection)	₹19,61,701 crore, growth 10%	PRS analysis of the budget
Per capita income, 2024-25	About ₹3.79 lakh, growth 9.6%	Socio Economic Outlook, as reported
Per capita income, 2025-26	₹4,18,931 (about 1.9 times the national average of ₹2,19,575)	Socio Economic Outlook 2026, as reported in the press; we did not open the document itself
Per capita GSDP, 2024-25	₹4,20,347	PRS analysis
Share of services in gross value added, 2024-25	66.3%	Socio Economic Outlook, as reported
Share of agriculture / industry	About 17% / about 16%	Reference page, 2024-25; not checked against the official document

Per capita income and per capita GSDP are two different measures, which is why the 2024-25 figures above do not match each other. Per capita income divides the state's income by its population and is an average: it says nothing about how evenly income is spread, and a large part of it is earned in the Hyderabad metropolitan region. A reference page reports that about 54% of the state's output originates there; we treat that as indicative, not official.

A point of exam interest is the gap between output and jobs. The Socio Economic Outlook, as reported, shows 42.7% of workers in the primary sector (mainly farming), 22.5% in the secondary sector and 34.8% in services, even though services produce about two thirds of value added. In other words, the sector that employs the most people produces the smallest share of income.

What drives the economy

• Information technology and services. Hyderabad is the state's economic engine. IT and IT-enabled services exports were ₹2,68,233 crore in 2023-24, up 11.2% from ₹2,41,275 crore in 2022-23, against national growth of about 3.3%, according to a press account of the state IT department's figures. The same account puts IT employment at over 9.46 lakh people and says that Hyderabad is second to Bengaluru in software exports. A press account also says that over 200 global capability centres (GCCs, the in-house technology and operations centres of foreign companies) operate in the city. These are reported figures; we did not find a 2024-25 official export number that we could open.
• HITEC City. The name stands for Hyderabad Information Technology and Engineering Consultancy City. It was inaugurated on 22 November 1998 and began with Cyber Towers, at Madhapur in the western part of the city. Gachibowli, Kondapur and the wider Cyberabad area grew around it, and the cluster hosts large offices of Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, IBM, Accenture and TCS, among others.
• Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Hyderabad is a leading Indian centre for bulk drugs, formulations and vaccines. The anchor of the biotech cluster is Genome Valley, a roughly 2,000-acre research and manufacturing park around Shamirpet and Medchal that began in 1999 as a public-private biotech park. It hosts Bharat Biotech, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, contract research firms and research institutions such as ICRISAT, the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and NIPER.
• Agriculture and allied sectors. Rice, cotton, maize, red gram and chilli make farming important for livelihoods even though its share of output is under a fifth. Water for farming has been the biggest public investment of the state since 2014 (see the next section).

Public finances

The 2026-27 budget was presented on 20 March 2026. The figures below come from PRS Legislative Research's analysis of the budget documents.

Item (2026-27 budget estimate)	Value
Total expenditure (excluding debt repayment)	₹3,01,209 crore, up 15% over 2025-26 revised estimates
Revenue receipts	₹2,41,264 crore, up 18%
Revenue surplus	0.3% of GSDP (₹6,858 crore)
Fiscal deficit	3% of GSDP (₹58,459 crore)
Outstanding liabilities	28.7% of GSDP at the end of 2026-27
Own tax revenue	₹1,48,186 crore, up 11%
Share in central taxes	₹33,182 crore
Grants from the Centre	₹24,166 crore
Central transfers, total	₹57,348 crore, about 24% of receipts

FRBM stands for the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management framework, which sets limits on deficit and debt. A fiscal deficit of 3% of GSDP is the usual ceiling for states. A press report from March 2026 put the state's total debt at about ₹8 lakh crore as on December 2025; that figure is a government report as relayed by a news outlet and uses a wider definition than the budget's "outstanding liabilities", so the two should not be compared. Poverty: we did not open the NITI Aayog multidimensional poverty index report for the state, and so give no percentage here.

For exam preparation

• Telangana's GSDP for 2026-27 is projected at ₹19,61,701 crore (PRS, budget presented 20 March 2026).
• Services contribute about two thirds of Telangana's gross value added.
• HITEC City was inaugurated on 22 November 1998 and began with Cyber Towers.
• Genome Valley, near Shamirpet in the Hyderabad region, is the biotechnology cluster.
• The 2026-27 budget targets a fiscal deficit of 3% of GSDP and a small revenue surplus.

Agriculture, forests, minerals, industry and energy

Telangana is a state of black and red soils on the Deccan plateau, fed by the Godavari and Krishna and their tributaries. Rice has been the main grain crop since the big irrigation projects of the last decade, cotton is the main cash crop, and under the ground lies the coal of the Godavari valley. This section covers crops, irrigation projects, forests, minerals, industry and power.

Crops and farm output

Rice (paddy) is the principal food crop, followed by maize and pulses such as red gram, while cotton, chilli, sugarcane, tobacco and turmeric are important cash crops. Figures to remember, with their sources:

Item	Figure	Source / note
Paddy, kharif 2024	About 93.44 lakh tonnes from about 60.39 lakh acres	Press account of state agriculture department data; "reported"
Cotton, 2024-25 season	About 49.86 lakh bales (170 kg each) on about 18.11 lakh hectares, yield about 468 kg per hectare	Trade estimate; another source gives 42 lakh bales, so treat it as a range
Cotton procurement, 2024-25	About 40 lakh bales, the highest among states	Press account; "reported"
Share of national output, 2015	Ajwain 30.5%, chilli 16.0%, cotton 11.2%, maize 7.4%	Reference page; old and indicative

Because paddy and cotton numbers differ by season, source and whether they are given for the kharif season or the whole year, the safest exam statement is a ranking one: rice and cotton are the leading crops, and Telangana is among the leading cotton-growing states. Tandur red gram holds a Geographical Indication (GI) tag, and Banaganapalle mango appears on some Telangana GI lists but belongs to the Kurnool area of Andhra Pradesh, so we do not list it.

Irrigation and drinking water

Water is the central story of the state's public spending. The state holds about 79% of the Godavari catchment and about 69% of the Krishna catchment within India's portions of those basins, according to a reference page.

Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project. The project lifts Godavari water in stages across a network of about 500 km, using barrages at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla. It was inaugurated in June 2019, cost about ₹80,190 crore as reported, can lift roughly 2 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) a day, and was designed to bring about 16.5 lakh acres of new area under irrigation and stabilise existing irrigation across 13 districts. The project's status is contested: pillars of the Medigadda barrage sank in 2023, and the barrages and the process by which the project was cleared have been the subject of official inquiries. We state only that inquiries were held and do not report their findings, which we did not open. Environmental clearance, a reference page notes, was granted after work had begun.

Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam. Two large Krishna dams shape the state's southern districts and are shared with Andhra Pradesh.

Dam	Facts
Nagarjuna Sagar	On the Krishna, between Nalgonda district (Telangana) and Palnadu district (Andhra Pradesh). Masonry dam, 124 m high, 1,550 m long, gross capacity 312 TMC. Foundation stone 10 December 1955; operating from 1967. Right canal (Jawahar) about 203 km and left canal (Lal Bahadur Shastri) about 179 km. Hydropower about 816 MW. The reservoir submerged Nagarjunakonda, an Ikshvaku-era Buddhist site, whose remains were moved.
Srisailam	On the Krishna near the Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga temple town, between Nagarkurnool district (Telangana) and Nandyal district (Andhra Pradesh). Height 145 m, gross capacity about 216 TMC; completed 1980-81. Two power houses totalling about 1,670 MW. A May 2025 report by the National Dam Safety Authority raised concern about the downstream plunge pool, reported.

Mission Bhagiratha. Launched on 6 August 2016 at Komatibanda in Medak district, this is the state's piped drinking-water programme. It aims to supply treated water to about 25,000 rural habitations and several dozen towns, with a reported cost of about ₹43,791 crore, 150 water treatment plants and about 1.7 lakh km of pipeline, drawing on the Godavari and Krishna. It was intended partly to deal with fluoride in groundwater.

Farmer support. Rythu Bandhu, launched on 10 May 2018, paid ₹5,000 per acre per season directly to landowning farmers before each of the two crop seasons. The state's 2023 change of government led to its replacement by Rythu Bharosa, announced at ₹12,000 per acre per year, with a related payment of ₹12,000 a year for landless agricultural workers under a scheme called Indiramma Athmeeya Rythu Bharosa; it was to begin on 26 January 2025. The 2026-27 budget sets aside ₹18,000 crore for Rythu Bharosa, according to PRS. Rates and eligibility are as reported and may change; check the latest announcement.

Forests and wildlife

A reference account of forest statistics reports a recorded forest area of 26,969.61 sq km, about 24.06% of the state's area, and a forest cover (areas actually under trees) that rose from 19,854 sq km in 2015 to 21,214 sq km in 2021. Recorded forest area and actual forest cover differ: the first is land legally classed as forest, the second is what the satellite sees under trees. We did not open the latest India State of Forest Report (2023) itself. Large forests lie in the north and north-east (Adilabad, Kumuram Bheem and the Godavari valley), and in the Nallamala hills of the south, where Amrabad Tiger Reserve is located; Kawal Tiger Reserve is in the north. The state also has smaller sanctuaries such as Pocharam and Kinnerasani.

Minerals and coal

Coal is Telangana's headline mineral. Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) was formed on 23 December 1920 and is owned 51% by the Telangana government and 49% by the central Ministry of Coal. Coal was discovered in the region in 1871, and mining rights passed through the Hyderabad (Deccan) Company in 1886 before SCCL took shape. Reported figures say that it runs 17 open-cast and 22 underground mines, produced about 58 million tonnes in 2025-26 (about 9.2% of India's domestic coal), and employed about 41,000 regular workers and 30,000 contract workers as of September 2025. In 2025 it set up subsidiaries for solar power and for overseas mining and opened a first mine outside the state in Odisha.

Power

As on October 2026, press reports give conflicting installed capacity (about 27,769 MW in one, about 23,187 MW in another), so we do not state a single figure. Reported peak demand has grown steadily: 15,497 MW in 2022-23, 15,623 MW in 2023-24 and 17,162 MW in 2024-25, with a record of 19,543 MW reported on 9 September 2026.

For exam preparation

• Kaleshwaram on the Godavari uses the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages; it was inaugurated in June 2019.
• Mission Bhagiratha was launched on 6 August 2016 and is the piped drinking-water programme.
• Rythu Bandhu began on 10 May 2018 at ₹5,000 per acre per season; Rythu Bharosa was announced at ₹12,000 per acre per year.
• Singareni Collieries was formed in 1920; the state holds 51% and the Centre 49%.
• Nagarjuna Sagar's foundation stone was laid on 10 December 1955; the reservoir submerged Nagarjunakonda.
• Srisailam dam is on the Krishna near the Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga shrine.

Transport and infrastructure

Hyderabad is the hub: most rail, road and air links meet there, and the state's best-known infrastructure projects are all in or around the capital. This section covers rail, roads, the ring roads, the metro, air links and water.

Rail

Telangana is served by the South Central Railway, whose headquarters is at Secunderabad. Secunderabad, Hyderabad (Nampally), Kacheguda, Kazipet and Warangal are the main stations. The Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS), a suburban rail service in Hyderabad, runs on the same network.

Highways

Press accounts report that national highways in the state now stretch about 4,926 to 4,983 km (the two figures differ, so treat them as roughly 4,900 to 5,000 km) across about 30 highways, against 2,511 km in 2014. A reference page lists a 96 km stretch of the Hyderabad-Indore economic corridor in Telangana, inaugurated by the Union road transport minister; we did not verify its present status. State-owned road transport (TGSRTC) runs one of India's largest bus fleets; the free-travel scheme for women is described under Government schemes.

Ring roads

The Outer Ring Road (ORR), an expressway circling Hyderabad, was completed in the 2010s; we did not verify its present length. Beyond it, the Regional Ring Road (RRR) is a proposed access-controlled highway at a larger radius. As on October 2026, as reported, it has two parts. The northern part, about 161 to 164 km, runs from Sangareddy through Toopran, Gajwel and Bhongir to Choutuppal, with an estimated cost of about ₹9,500 crore, and the NHAI has repeatedly extended the deadline for construction bids, with the last report extending it to 23 September. The southern part, about 182 km from Choutuppal through Amangal, Chevella and Shankarpally back to Sangareddy, awaits a detailed project report and alignment decisions, with farmer protests reported along parts of it. The status can change month to month; check the latest NHAI notices.

Hyderabad Metro

The Hyderabad Metro opened to the public on 29 November 2017 with the Red and Blue lines, and the Green line followed. It was built as a public-private partnership with Larsen & Toubro as the operating company and is now run by Keolis Hyderabad Mass Rapid Transit System. A reference page gives the network as 57 stations and about 67 km on three lines, with a peak daily ridership of about 5.1 lakh in July 2023. In 2025-26 the government announced a plan to buy out the private partner's stake for about ₹15,000 crore, with the line to move to state-central control; the outcome was not confirmed in the sources we opened. Phase 2A (about 76 km, 56 stations) and Phase 2B (about 86 km, 42 stations) were approved by the state in November 2024 and June 2025, and are reported to be waiting for central clearance.

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad opened on 23 March 2008 and is run by a public-private company led by GMR. It spreads over about 2,200 hectares and has two runways (3,707 m and 4,260 m). In 2024-25 it handled over 29 million passengers and over 167,000 tonnes of cargo, and ranks as India's fourth-busiest airport by passengers. Pharmaceuticals make up about 70% of its exports by reported share, and it has a temperature-controlled pharma zone.

For exam preparation

• The Hyderabad Metro began commercial service on 29 November 2017.
• South Central Railway has its headquarters at Secunderabad.
• Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad opened on 23 March 2008 and is run by a GMR-led company.
• The Regional Ring Road has a northern part (Sangareddy to Choutuppal) and a southern part.
• National highways in the state grew from 2,511 km in 2014 to about 4,900 to 5,000 km (reported).

Culture, tribes and heritage

Telangana's culture is layered. The Satavahana and Kakatiya past, the Qutb Shahi and Nizam courts, the forest tribes of the Godavari valley, and a Telugu, Urdu and Banjara-speaking population have left a culture that is often called Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, a blend of Hindu and Muslim traditions. This section covers language, tribes, festivals, performing arts, painting and crafts, cuisine and the GI tags.

Languages and literature

Telugu is the main language, spoken by about 75 to 76% of people according to reference pages, and Urdu is the second official language of the state at about 12%. Smaller tribal languages such as Gondi, Kolami and Koya are also spoken. Hyderabad's old city has a strong Urdu and Dakhni tradition (Dakhni is the Urdu dialect of the Deccan), and the Qutb Shahi ruler Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah is remembered as a pioneering poet of the Deccan. In Telugu literature, two poets from the Telangana region stand out: Bammera Pothana, known for his Telugu Bhagavatam, and Kancherla Gopanna, known as Bhaktha Ramadasu, who is associated with the Bhadrachalam temple. Among modern writers, Kaloji Narayana Rao was awarded the Padma Vibhushan and C. Narayana Reddy received the Jnanpith Award. The Telangana Sahitya Akademi is the state's literary body; we did not open its pages.

Tribes

Scheduled Tribes (STs) make up about 9.34% of the state's population in Census 2011, according to a reported tabulation, and there are more than 30 notified tribes. The Lambada (also called Banjara) are generally reported to be the most numerous ST in the state; this is general knowledge and we did not find the census count. The sources we opened give counts for several others.

Tribe	Where and what to know
Lambada (Banjara)	Spread across the state; semi-nomadic traders by tradition, now settled in hamlets called tandas. Known for mirror-work embroidery, silver jewellery and the Lambadi dance.
Gond	The northern districts, notably Adilabad. About 2.98 lakh in Census 2001 (reported figure; we could not find the 2011 count). Known for the Dhimsa dance and the Gussadi dance, worn with peacock-feather headgear (the Gussadi is usually tied to the Raj Gond).
Koya	The largest tribe of the Godavari valley, with about 3.81 lakh people in Census 2011 (reported). Koyas perform the rituals of the Medaram jatara.
Chenchu	Nallamala forest, around Nagarkurnool and Nalgonda. About 16,912 in Census 2011 (reported). Traditionally forest foragers; usually classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
Kolam	North-east, about 44,805 in Census 2011 (reported); usually classed as a PVTG.
Pardhan and Andh	About 24,776 and 12,882 respectively in Census 2011 (reported).
Yerukala	Found in many districts; basket-making and traditional healing.

The PVTG classification and the Lambada, Gond and Yerukala descriptions are general knowledge and are marked as unverified in our notes.

Festivals

Festival	When	What it is
Bathukamma	Nine days from Mahalaya Amavasya to Durga Ashtami (Sept-Oct; 11-18 October in 2026)	Women stack flowers in a conical tower, sing and dance around it, and on the last day, Saddula Bathukamma, immerse it in a water body. The name is a Telugu phrase for a living goddess. It rose to prominence as a symbol of Telangana identity and is the state festival. In September 2025 it set two Guinness records, for a floral decoration about 63 feet high and a synchronised performance by 1,354 women, as reported.
Bonalu	Month of Ashadha (July-August)	Thanksgiving to Goddess Mahakali. Women carry decorated pots of rice, milk and jaggery on their heads. Pothuraju, a man in red who leads the procession, and Rangam, a woman who gives a prophecy standing on a pot, are signature rituals. Tradition links the modern form with a cholera outbreak in 1813 and soldiers from Ujjain; a 1516 inscription suggests it is older. Became a state festival in 2014.
Sammakka-Saralamma (Medaram) Jatara	Every two years in February; held in Medaram, Tadvai mandal, Mulugu district	A tribal fair for two Koya goddesses. Pilgrims offer jaggery, called bangaram. The 2026 edition was reported to have drawn about 80 lakh devotees; early figures were tiny by comparison (2,000 in 1955, reported). It is often described as Asia's largest tribal gathering.
Dasara, Ugadi, Sankranti	Autumn, spring, January	Pan-Telugu festivals.
Muharram, Eid, urs at dargahs	Per the Islamic calendar	Part of the old city's syncretic life.

Performing arts

• Perini Shivatandavam, the "dance of warriors", is a male dance of the Kakatiya period, performed to invoke Shiva before battle. Temple sculptures at Ramappa show the dance poses. It was revived in the twentieth century. We did not verify details of the revival.
• Kuchipudi is the classical dance of the Telugu country. It takes its name from a village in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, so it belongs to the wider Telugu heritage and not to Telangana alone. Hyderabad is an important teaching centre.
• Folk forms include Oggu Katha (storytelling for the Yadava community), Burra Katha (a three-person ballad form), Chindu Bhagavatam, Kolatam (stick dance) and tribal forms such as Dhimsa and Gussadi.
• Cinema. Tollywood operates from Hyderabad.

Painting, crafts and GI tags

A GI (Geographical Indication) tag certifies that a product comes from a particular place. The list below is from a compiled page and the years are the registration years it gives; the same page's inclusion of Banaganapalle mangoes is questioned above, so we omit it.

Product	Year registered (reported)	Note
Pochampally Ikat	2005	Handwoven cloth from Bhoodan Pochampally, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district. In ikat, the threads are tie-dyed before weaving so that the pattern forms on the loom.
Karimnagar silver filigree	2007	Fine silver wire work.
Cheriyal scroll paintings	2008	Painted narrative scrolls, used by storytellers.
Nirmal toys and craft; Nirmal furniture	2009	Wooden toys and furniture from Nirmal, Adilabad region.
Hyderabad haleem	2010	The first meat product in India to get a GI tag, reported.
Pembarthi metal craft	2010	Sheet brass work, from Jangaon district.
Gadwal sarees	2012	Cotton and silk weave from Jogulamba Gadwal.
Siddipet Gollabhama	2012	Cloth-and-paper craft dolls (Gollabhama is a Telugu name for a milkmaid doll).
Narayanpet handloom sarees	2013	From Narayanpet district.
Puttapaka Telia Rumal	2015	Oil-treated cotton cloth, Nalgonda region.
Adilabad Dokra	2018	Lost-wax metal casting by tribal metalworkers.
Warangal durries	2018	Cotton floor rugs.
Nirmal paintings	2019	Golden-hued paintings.
Tandur red gram	2022	A pulse from Vikarabad district.

Hyderabadi biryani has no GI: the application filed in 2009 shows as abandoned in the registry and the press reported that it failed for want of documented origin. Bidriware, the silver-inlaid black metal craft associated with the Deccan sultanates, is sold in Hyderabad's old city, but the GI registration belongs to Bidar in Karnataka (general knowledge, not verified here). Lac bangles of Laad Bazaar were reported to be heading for GI in 2022; we did not confirm the outcome.

Cuisine

Two food traditions meet here. The Telangana country kitchen uses millets (jowar and bajra rotis), sesame, tamarind, chilli and groundnut, with dishes such as sarva pindi (a rice-flour pancake) and ambali (a fermented millet porridge). The Hyderabadi kitchen is a blend of Persian, Mughal and Telugu cooking, with the dum (sealed-pot) biryani, haleem (a wheat, lentil and meat stew eaten especially in Ramzan), Irani chai and Osmania biscuits. UNESCO recognised Hyderabad as a Creative City of Gastronomy in 2019, reported in the press. The two kitchens are described here from general knowledge and are not tied to specific sources.

Architecture and heritage

• Kakatiya. The Kakatiya dynasty (about 1163 to 1323) built Warangal Fort, the Thousand Pillar Temple at Hanamkonda (said to have been built by Rudra Deva in 1163) and the Ramappa temple. The Kakatiya Kala Thoranam, a stone arch at the fort, is incorporated into the state emblem. The fort fell to the Delhi Sultanate in 1323.
• Qutb Shahi (1518-1687). Golconda was the capital and Hyderabad was founded in 1591 beside the Musi. Charminar, built in 1591, is described by the Archaeological Survey of India as a memorial to the end of a plague. The dynasty ended when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb took Golconda in 1687 after a siege of about eight months.
• Asaf Jahi (Nizam) era. The Nizams ruled Hyderabad State from 1724 until 1948, when it joined India. They built many of the buildings and institutions of the modern city, among them Osmania University, the Osmania General Hospital, the High Court, the Salar Jung Museum and the Chowmahalla and Falaknuma palaces. The dates of individual buildings were not verified for this page.

For exam preparation

• Telangana's state festivals are Bathukamma and Bonalu; Medaram jatara is the biennial Koya festival in Mulugu district.
• Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 25 July 2021.
• Hyderabad haleem was GI-tagged in 2010; Hyderabadi biryani has no GI tag.
• Pochampally Ikat received its GI tag in 2005.
• Perini Shivatandavam is the "dance of warriors"; Kuchipudi belongs to the wider Telugu region.
• The Lambada, Gond, Koya and Chenchu are among the major tribes.

Tourism and places of interest

Telangana offers three kinds of travel: the forts, tombs and old-city markets of Hyderabad, the Kakatiya heritage of the Warangal region, and temples, waterfalls and forests across the rest of the state. UNESCO listings: one inscribed World Heritage Site in the state (Ramappa Temple, 2021), and several sites on the tentative list.

Place	District	What it is
Charminar and Laad Bazaar	Hyderabad	A 1591 monument, 56 m high with four minarets each about 48.7 m, protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Makkah Masjid and the Laad Bazaar bangle market are close by.
Golconda Fort	Hyderabad	Qutb Shahi capital with an acoustic effect at the entrance: a clap beneath the dome of Fateh Darwaza is audible at the Bala Hisar pavilion at the top. On the tentative World Heritage list as part of the "Monuments and Forts of the Deccan Sultanate".
Qutb Shahi Tombs	Hyderabad	Seven rulers' tombs in the Ibrahim Bagh garden near Golconda. Restored with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, unveiled 10 March 2020. On the tentative list since 2014.
Chowmahalla and Falaknuma Palaces, Salar Jung Museum	Hyderabad	Nizam-era palaces and a museum of collections. We did not verify opening hours or visitor figures.
Hussain Sagar	Hyderabad	A lake with a large Buddha statue, at the centre of the city.
Ramoji Film City	Rangareddy	The largest film production facility, per Guinness records.
Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple	Mulugu	13th-century Shiva temple at Palampet, begun in 1213 and built over about four decades under general Recherla Rudra during Ganapatideva's reign. It is built of red sandstone with a tower of lightweight bricks, and it is said to be the only temple in India named after its sculptor, Ramappa. Roughly 600 dance-related sculptures are reported. Inscribed as a World Heritage Site on 25 July 2021.
Warangal Fort and Thousand Pillar Temple	Warangal, Hanamkonda	Kakatiya capital with three concentric defence walls and four Kala Thoranam gateways; Monument of National Importance; on the tentative list since 2010.
Medak Cathedral and Fort	Medak	A large church, described as among the largest in Asia in one source (not verified).
Bhongir Fort	Yadadri Bhuvanagiri	A tenth-century fort on a single rock, about 609.6 m above sea level, reported.
Yadagirigutta (Yadadri)	Yadadri Bhuvanagiri	Narasimha temple.
Bhadrachalam	Bhadradri Kothagudem	Rama temple on the Godavari.
Vemulawada, Basar	Rajanna Sircilla; Nirmal	Shiva temple at Vemulawada; the Saraswati temple at Basar, on the Godavari.
Srisailam and Alampur	Nagarkurnool; Jogulamba Gadwal	Srisailam holds the Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga; both are on the Krishna.
Medaram	Mulugu	Site of the jatara described above.
Kuntala and Bogatha waterfalls	Adilabad; Mulugu	Kuntala, about 45 m, is reported as the highest in the state; Bogatha is called the "Niagara of Telangana".
Laknavaram and Pakhal	Mulugu; Warangal	Kakatiya-era lakes in forest settings.
Amrabad and Kawal Tiger Reserves	Nagarkurnool; Mancherial	The two tiger reserves.
Nagarjuna Sagar	Nalgonda	Dam and the island museum of Nagarjunakonda finds; see Agriculture section.

Ramsar sites: we did not verify whether any wetland within the present state limits is on the Ramsar list, and none is stated.

For exam preparation

• The Ramappa Temple, at Palampet in Mulugu district, is Telangana's UNESCO World Heritage Site (2021).
• Charminar was built in 1591 by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah.
• Golconda fell to Aurangzeb in 1687 after a siege.
• The Qutb Shahi tombs and Warangal Fort are on the UNESCO tentative list.
• Kakatiya Kala Thoranam is part of the state emblem.

Education, health, sports and personalities

Hyderabad has long been South India's education hub, with a university founded under the Nizam and, since the 1990s, a cluster of national institutes. Health care draws patients from neighbouring states, and the city has produced many national sporting champions. This section sets out the main universities, institutes, health points, sports history and notable people, using legacy and historical framing wherever possible.

Universities and institutes

Institution	Notes
Osmania University	Founded under the Nizam; the oldest modern university in the state. We recall 1918 as its year but did not verify it for this page.
University of Hyderabad	A central university.
English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU)	Central universities in Hyderabad.
NALSAR University of Law	A leading law university in Hyderabad, listed in the sources we opened; we did not verify its founding year.
IIT Hyderabad	Indian Institute of Technology at Kandi, Sangareddy; established in 2008 (not verified for this page).
Indian School of Business (ISB)	Business school with campuses at Hyderabad and Mohali; founded 2001 (not verified here).
IIIT Hyderabad	International Institute of Information Technology, known for research in computing; founded 1998 (not verified here).
NIT Warangal	Established 1959, as reported.
BITS Hyderabad, NIPER Hyderabad	A private engineering campus and the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research.
JNTU, Kakatiya University (Warangal), Telangana University (Nizamabad), Mahatma Gandhi University (Nalgonda)	State universities.
AIIMS Bibinagar	Established under the central health scheme PMSSY; the MBBS programme started with the 2019-20 academic year, reported. A union health minister's statement in 2026 described it as fully operational, reported.

School education follows a 10+2 pattern with a Board of Secondary Education for Class 10 and a Board of Intermediate Education for Classes 11 and 12. Literacy in Census 2011 and the latest school enrolment statistics were not opened for this page, so no literacy percentage is given here.

Health

Hyderabad has major government hospitals such as the Osmania General Hospital and Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, plus a large private sector. The state's Aarogyasri scheme (see Government schemes) covers hospital costs for eligible families. NFHS-5 (2019-21) fieldwork was held in Telangana; the one detail we found, as reported, is a 3.2% fall in neonatal mortality and a roughly 1% fall in infant and under-five mortality from the earlier survey. We did not retrieve other NFHS-5 indicators and so give none.

Sports

Hyderabad is a cricket, badminton, tennis and boxing city.

• Cricket. The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium at Uppal, owned by the Hyderabad Cricket Association, opened in 2003 and is reported to seat about 39,200 for matches (design capacity 55,000). It is the home of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and hosted the IPL finals of 2017 and 2019, as reported. Other venues include the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium.
• Indoor sport. The Gachibowli Indoor Stadium is an international-standard badminton arena. The Gopichand Academy near Gachibowli has produced international shuttlers.
• Players. Tennis player Sania Mirza became the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam doubles title; she has won six Grand Slam titles in total (three in women's doubles, three in mixed doubles), reported. PV Sindhu is a two-time Olympic medallist in badminton, trained in Hyderabad. Boxer Nikhat Zareen of Nizamabad has been women's world champion (reported as two consecutive years). The former India cricket captains Mohammad Azharuddin and Mithali Raj are also associated with Hyderabad (general knowledge, not verified here).

Notable people

Person	Why notable
Kaloji Narayana Rao	Telugu poet, Padma Vibhushan (as reported).
C. Narayana Reddy	Telugu poet, winner of the Jnanpith Award (as reported).
Bammera Pothana, Kancherla Gopanna	Medieval Telugu poets.
Rani Rudrama Devi	Kakatiya ruler, one of few women to rule a major Indian kingdom of her time.
Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah	Qutb Shahi ruler, poet, founder of Hyderabad.
Mir Osman Ali Khan	The last Nizam of Hyderabad; his rule ended with the state's accession in 1948.
Sania Mirza, PV Sindhu, Nikhat Zareen	Sportspeople described above.

For exam preparation

• Osmania University is the oldest modern university in the state; AIIMS Bibinagar began MBBS classes in 2019-20.
• IIT Hyderabad is at Kandi in Sangareddy district.
• The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium at Uppal is the home of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
• Sania Mirza was the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam doubles title.
• Kaloji Narayana Rao was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.

Government schemes

Telangana's welfare schemes changed with the change of government in December 2023. Older programmes such as Rythu Bandhu and the Kalyana Lakshmi marriage assistance were reworked or replaced by guarantees announced in the Congress election manifesto. Rates and eligibility below are as announced and reported; the state revises them often, so check the latest government order before quoting a number in an exam. We name no ministers.

Scheme	What it offers (as reported)	Status as on October 2026
Rythu Bharosa	₹12,000 per acre per year to farmers (replacing Rythu Bandhu's ₹10,000); ₹12,000 a year to landless agricultural workers under Indiramma Athmeeya Rythu Bharosa	Announced to start 26 January 2025; ₹18,000 crore allocated in the 2026-27 budget (PRS)
Mahalakshmi (free bus travel)	Free travel for women in TSRTC buses within the state	Launched 9 December 2023
Mahalakshmi (LPG)	Gas cylinder at ₹500 for eligible households	Launched February 2024
Gruha Jyothi	Up to 200 units of free electricity a month for eligible households	Launched February 2024
Rajiv Aarogyasri	Health cover raised to ₹10 lakh per family	Announced in December 2023
Indiramma Housing	Houses for the poor; a target of 22.5 lakh houses over five years, with a first phase of about 4.16 lakh	Under way; first phase sanctioned, reported
Cheyutha pensions	Social security pensions; ₹14,861 crore allocated in 2026-27	PRS
Indiramma Family Life Insurance	₹5 lakh insurance cover per family	Announced in the 2026-27 budget, to start June 2026; implementation not confirmed
Breakfast and mid-day meals	Milk and ragi malt breakfast from pre-primary to intermediate, mid-day meals extended to government junior colleges	Announced in the 2026-27 budget
Mission Bhagiratha	Piped drinking water to rural habitations	Operating since 2016

A Mahalakshmi promise of ₹2,500 a month for women was part of the original guarantees; we did not find confirmation that it has been implemented, so we list it as a promise, not a running scheme. Central schemes, such as PM-KISAN, Ayushman Bharat and PMAY, apply in the state in the usual way; Telangana's own Aarogyasri health cover is the main state insurance programme and Ayushman Bharat is not stated here, because the integration of the two was not verified.

For exam preparation

• Rythu Bandhu (2018, ₹5,000 per acre per season) was succeeded by Rythu Bharosa (₹12,000 per acre per year, announced).
• Free travel for women in state buses began on 9 December 2023.
• Gruha Jyothi offers up to 200 units of free power; the Mahalakshmi LPG scheme sets a ₹500 cylinder price.
• Rajiv Aarogyasri cover was raised to ₹10 lakh.
• The Indiramma housing target is 22.5 lakh houses over five years.

Government exams in Telangana

Most state government jobs in Telangana run through four doors. The Telangana Public Service Commission (TGPSC, earlier written TSPSC) recruits the Group 1, 2, 3 and 4 services and many technical posts. The Telangana State Level Police Recruitment Board (TGSLPRB) recruits police constables, sub-inspectors and a few allied uniformed posts. The School Education Department runs the Telangana Teacher Eligibility Test (TG TET) and the teacher recruitment test known as DSC. The Telangana High Court recruits its own staff and the staff of the subordinate judiciary. Notification dates, vacancy counts, fees and age limits change with every advertisement, so treat every figure below as a pointer and read the latest notice before applying. Where a figure comes from a news or exam-prep site and not from an official document, we write "reported".

For live openings, see Telangana government jobs. To practise under timed conditions, see our online test series. We do not yet have separate Telangana exam guides, so this section is the reference. If you are also tracking neighbouring or similar systems, our Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh guides follow the same layout.

Telangana Public Service Commission (TGPSC)

The TGPSC is a constitutional body under Articles 315 to 323. Wikipedia gives its constitution as 2 June 2014, the day Telangana was formed under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. It is headed by a chairperson with a small number of members, all appointed by the Governor. We do not name the chairperson or members because they change; see current affairs for the latest. The commission handles direct recruitment, advises on service rules, and deals with some promotion and disciplinary matters. Older books and sites call it TSPSC; the exam content is the same.

Group 1

Group 1 has three stages. The Prelims is a single objective screening paper of 150 marks. The Mains is descriptive. For the 2024 cycle, a prep-site summary lists a qualifying General English paper and then six papers: General Essay; History, Culture and Geography; Indian Society, Constitution and Governance; Economy and Development; Science and Technology (with data interpretation); and Telangana Movement and State Formation. Each paper is 150 marks and three hours. We could not open an official pattern page, so confirm the paper names, the Mains total and the interview marks in the notification. We have not verified the interview marks.

The Group 1 Mains went through a long legal fight. We summarise it here because many candidates ask whether the 2024 selection stands.

Date	Event (as reported by The South First, Siasat and ETV Bharat)
2022	An earlier Group 1 notification was cancelled; reports describe a fresh notification combining the original 503 posts with additional vacancies, making 563 posts.
October 2024	Mains held over seven days, with more than 30,000 candidates reported.
10 March 2025	Mains results declared.
30 March 2025	General rank list published.
9 September 2025	A single judge of the Telangana High Court ordered manual re-evaluation within eight weeks, with a warning of a fresh exam if the commission failed. Grounds argued included the lack of transparent moderation and the use of non-Telugu evaluators for Telugu-medium papers.
Late September 2025	A division bench stayed the single-judge order, so appointments could go ahead provisionally.
5 February 2026	The division bench set aside the single-judge order, restored the March 2025 results and rank list, and allowed the appointments to 563 posts to be formalised.

We found no report of a Supreme Court appeal in the pages we opened. That is not the same as there being none, so search for the latest status before you quote it.

Group 2

Group 2 has four objective papers of 150 marks each, 600 in total, and no interview; selection is on written marks followed by certificate verification (reported). The four papers are General Studies and General Abilities; History, Polity and Society; Economy and Development; and Telangana Movement and State Formation. Posts listed in the 2023 notification summary include Assistant Labour Officer, Assistant Commercial Tax Officer, Sub-Registrar Grade II, Extension Officer and Municipal Commissioner Grade III. That summary reports 783 posts; the list of services changes between notifications.

Group 3

Group 3 has three objective papers of 150 marks each, 450 in total, each of 2 hours 30 minutes (reported). Paper 1 is General Studies and General Abilities; Paper 2 is History, Political Science and Society; Paper 3 is Economy and Development. Posts reported for the 2024 cycle are Junior Assistant, Clerk, Typist, Accountant and Auditor, with about 1,365 vacancies. Another report gave 1,373; use only the figure in the notice you apply under.

Group 4

Group 4 recruits junior assistants, typists and junior stenographers across departments such as Revenue, Home, Forest and Medical Education. Careers360 describes two objective papers of 150 questions and 150 marks each (General Knowledge; Secretarial Abilities) and a 30-minute, 50-mark computer proficiency test for some posts. That page is headed 2022; check whether the computer test applies to the post you want.

Other TGPSC recruitment

The commission also advertises technical and departmental posts such as engineers and lecturers. We opened no official advertisement for these, so we give no figures. A news item reported about 15 notifications covering about 3,800 posts expected from late August or September 2026; we could not match that to an official list.

Telangana Police: TGSLPRB

The Telangana State Level Police Recruitment Board recruits for the police department, the Special Protection Force, fire services and prisons. Its portal is tgprb.in. A 2026 notification is reported for 7,437 posts across the police, Special Protection Force, Fire and Prisons departments. Careers360 reports the notification date as 30 July 2026 and splits the posts as 275 sub-inspector posts, 7,112 constable posts, 23 Assistant Sub-Inspector (Fingerprint Bureau) posts and 27 driver and mechanic posts; Deccan Chronicle's breakdown by department is consistent with the 7,437 total. Reports on the application window disagree (one prep site gives 19 August to 9 September 2026; the news pieces we opened say dates would follow), so check tgprb.in.

Selection follows the pattern used in the 2022 cycle (16,614 posts reported), with these stages:

• A Preliminary Written Test (PWT) of 200 objective questions in three hours (reported). Constable papers cover English, arithmetic, reasoning and general studies. Reports say the 2022 PWT had no negative marking; confirm in the current notice.
• The Physical Measurement Test and the Physical Efficiency Test (PMT and PET).
• A Final Written Examination (FWE) of three hours; marks vary by post (200 for several posts in 2022).
• Technical posts such as driver, mechanic and Fingerprint Bureau ASI skip the PWT in the 2026 report and go to PMT and PET first.
• For the sub-inspector posts, the 2026 report says the PWT comes before the second part of the application.

For 2022, the Quint reported a constable age of 18 to 22 and a sub-inspector age of 21 to 25, with an intermediate pass for constables and a degree for sub-inspectors. A different page gave a sub-inspector age of 18 to 33, so the sources conflict; the 2026 notice is the only safe source. The 2022 fee reported was Rs 800 for general and backward class Telangana locals and Rs 400 for SC and ST local candidates.

Teacher recruitment: TG TET and DSC

The School Education Department conducts the TG TET, an eligibility test, not a recruitment exam. Reported pattern: Paper 1 (classes 1 to 5) has 150 questions of one mark each across Child Development and Pedagogy, Language I, Language II (English), Mathematics and Environmental Studies, 30 questions each. Paper 2 (classes 6 to 8) has Child Development and Pedagogy, Language I, Language II (English) and either Mathematics and Science or Social Studies for 60 marks. Duration is 2 hours 30 minutes, the test is computer-based, and there is no negative marking. Careers360 reports a January 2026 session (notified 14 November 2025) and a June 2026 session (notified 13 April 2026, exams 15 to 30 June 2026). We could not confirm qualifying marks by category or certificate validity from an official source.

Recruitment of teachers happens through a separate test called DSC (District Selection Committee, the name carried over from the older system). Reported for the 2024 cycle: the School Education Department notified 11,062 posts on 29 February 2024 for School Assistants, Secondary Grade Teachers, Language Pandits, Physical Education Teachers and special education teachers. Applications opened on 4 March 2024, exams ran from 18 July to 5 August 2024, and results were declared on 30 September 2024. Selection was reported as 80% DSC score and 20% TET score. We found no confirmed DSC notification for 2026.

Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court recruits ministerial and subordinate staff for itself and the Telangana judicial ministerial and subordinate service. A January 2025 notification is reported for 1,673 vacancies, with Stenographer Grade III, Junior Assistant, Field Assistant, Assistant, Examiner, Typist, Process Server and Office Subordinate among the posts. Reported age limit was 18 to 34 on 1 July 2025, with qualification from class 10 to graduate depending on the post. An OMR-based exam for Process Server and Office Subordinate was reported for 21 and 22 June 2025. We could not open the official PDF, so verify on the High Court's site. District and civil judges are selected through a different process.

Domicile, reservation and recruitment rules

Telangana is one of the few states with an Article 371-D framework. Under it, direct recruitment is organised by local cadres, and candidates who are local to the relevant area get 95% of the posts. That makes local status the first thing to check before you apply. Reservation in state services is vertical (by community) with horizontal quotas on top (women, disabled persons). Age limits and relaxations are set by government orders and are sometimes changed for a limited period, so the date on the order matters.

Local and non-local candidates

Article 371-D allows the President to make special provisions for the state in public employment and education. Telangana's current order is the Telangana Public Employment (Organisation of Local Cadres and Regulation of Direct Recruitment) Order, 2018, published as G.S.R. 820(E) and implemented by G.O.Ms.No.124 dated 30 August 2018 (as reported by a teachers' portal that reproduces the order). Our reading of the reported text:

• 95/5 split. In direct recruitment, 95% of posts are reserved for local candidates and 5% are open to all, including non-locals.
• Cadres. District, zonal, multi-zonal and state cadres. When the Order was made, the state had 33 district cadres, 7 zonal cadres and 2 multi-zonal cadres. Reported coverage: district cadre for Junior Assistant and equivalent or lower posts; zonal cadre for posts above Junior Assistant up to Superintendent; multi-zonal for posts above Superintendent up to Deputy Collector. Posts in the Secretariat, heads of department offices, special offices and state-level institutions are reported as outside the Order.
• Who is local. A candidate is local to an area if they studied there for at least four consecutive academic years ending with the qualifying exam, or lived there for at least four years just before the qualifying exam. A candidate who is non-local to a particular area but belongs to Telangana can reportedly claim local status after seven years of study or residence in the preferred area.
• Zones. Reported names of the seven zones: Kaleshwaram, Basara, Rajanna, Bhadradri, Yadadri, Charminar and Jogulamba.

We did not open the Order itself, so use the notification's "local candidate" clause as final. We also did not open the 2014 Reorganisation Act provisions on Article 371-D. Hyderabad's shared-capital period ended on 2 June 2024; we found nothing saying this changed the local-area definition for recruitment, and no separate 2024 recruitment definition.

Reservation percentages

The figures below are as reported on prep and news sites, not from a government order we opened. Confirm the roster in your notification.

Category	Reported share in state services
Scheduled Castes (SC)	15%
Scheduled Tribes (ST)	10%
Backward Classes A	7%
Backward Classes B	10%
Backward Classes C	1%
Backward Classes D	7%
Backward Classes E	4%
Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)	10%
Women	33.33% horizontal, inside each category

Note that the four main BC groups A to D add to 25%, and BC-E is a separate 4% (reported); together the BC groups total 29%. If you have read "BC 25%", it refers to A to D. Persons with disabilities have a horizontal quota under the national disability law, normally 4% across notified benchmark disabilities; we did not verify the Telangana roster.

SC sub-classification. An Act passed by the Telangana legislature received the Governor's assent on 8 April 2025 and was published on 14 April 2025. It divides 59 SC communities into three groups within the 15% SC quota: Group I gets 1%, Group II gets 9% and Group III gets 5% (15, 18 and 26 communities respectively, as reported). Telangana was reported as the first state to implement SC sub-classification, and reports say all state vacancies now follow it. The state's order was issued on Ambedkar Jayanti, 14 April 2025.

The 42% BC proposal. In March 2025 the Telangana Assembly passed bills to raise BC reservation from 23% (the local-body figure) to 42% across education, government employment and local bodies. The Governor assented on 30 March 2025 and forwarded them to the President; reports say they were pending. A separate state order (G.O. No. 9, 26 September 2025) gave 42% BC reservation in local-body elections, and the High Court stayed it on 9 October 2025. The Supreme Court dismissed the state's special leave petition on 16 October 2025 and said the High Court should decide on merits. Panchayat polls then went ahead with the older quota. As on 4 October 2026, we found no report that 42% BC reservation applies in state recruitment, and a 42% share would push total reservations beyond the 50% ceiling from the Indra Sawhney judgment. Treat BC reservation in jobs as the old pattern above unless a notification states otherwise.

Age limit and relaxation

Reports describe the following sequence for direct recruitment (excluding uniformed services):

• The normal upper age was 34 years.
• G.O.Ms.No.30, 8 February 2024: relaxation took the upper limit to 46 years for two years (a 10-year relaxation plus two more years). The relaxation did not apply to police, excise, fire, prisons and forest services.
• The relaxation lapsed in February 2026, returning the limit to 34.
• G.O. No. 86, reported 19 May 2026: the limit was raised from 34 to 44 years for one year, for posts to be notified by recruiting agencies, excluding uniformed services.

So the 46-year ceiling is no longer the current rule, and the 44-year relaxation is for one year only. We could not confirm the exact start date of that year or whether it adds to category relaxations (SC, ST, BC, disabled, ex-servicemen). Read the age clause and the cut-off date in each notification. Uniformed posts follow their own limits, as in the police pattern above.

Selection stages and typical cycles

Groups 2, 3 and 4 are written exams only; Group 1 adds an interview; police recruitment adds physical tests; teachers need TET and then DSC. Certificate verification comes at the end, and a local-status or community certificate in the wrong format can cost a seat. Vacancy cycles are irregular, so we publish no calendar; check the commission's site.

How to use this guide for exam preparation

Telangana papers mix polity, economy and geography with a large state-specific block. Group 1 and Group 2 each include a full paper on the Telangana movement and state formation, so history after 1948 is not optional.

Which sections give the most marks

• Telangana Movement and State Formation carries a full paper in Group 1 Mains and Group 2. Revise the 1948 integration, the 1956 merger, the 1969 agitation, the six-point and later arrangements, the 2009 to 2014 phase, and the Reorganisation Act, 2014.
• History and culture (Kakatiya, Qutb Shahi, Asaf Jahi, Hyderabad State, folk arts, festivals) is steady scoring in Group 2 and Group 3.
• Economy and development is a full paper in Group 2 and Group 3. Learn the state budget structure, major sectors, and welfare schemes with their year of launch.
• Polity and governance covers Article 371-D, local cadres, Panchayati Raj, the PSC and reservation law. The rules in this guide are directly examinable.
• Geography (rivers, projects, forests, soils, districts) feeds Group 1 and the police Final Written Exam.
• Current affairs covers office-holders and recent schemes, which this guide does not name; use current affairs.

A four-week revision plan

Week	Focus
1	The Telangana movement and state formation: timeline, agreements, committees, key dates. Write one page of dates from memory at the end of the week.
2	Polity and local rules: Article 371-D, local cadre structure, reservation categories, constitutional bodies, Panchayati Raj. Revise geography: rivers, projects, forests.
3	Economy, schemes, culture and history of the region. Practise two full timed papers from the online test series.
4	Revision of rapid-fire facts, current affairs for the last six months, and one mock per day. Review wrong answers by topic, not by paper.

Common traps

• Old name. Material before 2024 says TSPSC and TSLPRB; newer pages say TGPSC and TGSLPRB. They are the same bodies.
• Reading "BC 25%" as the whole BC share. BC-E is a separate 4% (reported). Check the notification roster.
• Treating the 42% BC proposal as law for jobs. As on 4 October 2026 we found no report that it is in force in recruitment.
• Forgetting that age relaxations expire. The 46-year relaxation lapsed in February 2026; the current one is for a limited period.
• Assuming a TET pass is a job. TG TET is only the eligibility test; DSC is the recruitment test.
• Local status errors. Four years of study or residence is the base test; non-locals compete only for the 5% open quota.

Rapid-fire facts

These are one-line facts. Items marked "reported" come from news or prep sites rather than an official document we opened.

Fact	Answer
Date of Telangana's formation	2 June 2014
Act that created Telangana	Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014
Telangana's number among Indian states	29th
Capital of Telangana	Hyderabad
Hyderabad as joint capital ended	2 June 2024
Constitutional articles for state PSCs	315 to 323
Who appoints PSC chair and members	The Governor
Article for PSC appointment and removal terms	316 (appointment); 317 (removal)
Article on functions of PSCs	320
Article on a PSC's annual report	323
Date TGPSC was constituted (reported, Wikipedia)	2 June 2014
Old abbreviation of the commission	TSPSC
New abbreviation	TGPSC
Article giving special provisions for local cadres	371-D
Presidential Order for local cadres in Telangana	2018 Order (G.S.R. 820(E))
G.O. implementing the 2018 Order (reported)	G.O.Ms.No.124 of 30 August 2018
Local share in direct recruitment (reported)	95%
Open (non-local) share (reported)	5%
District cadres at the time of the Order (reported)	33
Zonal cadres at the time of the Order (reported)	7
Multi-zonal cadres at the time of the Order (reported)	2
Base test for local status (reported)	4 years of study or residence
Non-local to claim local status (reported)	7 years in the preferred area
SC reservation (reported)	15%
ST reservation (reported)	10%
EWS reservation (reported)	10%
Women's quota in state services (reported)	33.33% horizontal
BC-A share (reported)	7%
BC-B share (reported)	10%
BC-C share (reported)	1%
BC-D share (reported)	7%
BC-E share (reported)	4%
Total BC-A to D (reported)	25%
SC Group I share (reported)	1%
SC Group II share (reported)	9%
SC Group III share (reported)	5%
Communities in SC sub-classification (reported)	59 (15 + 18 + 26)
SC sub-classification Act, assent date (reported)	8 April 2025
SC sub-classification published (reported)	14 April 2025
BC 42% bills passed by Assembly (reported)	18 March 2025
Governor's assent to BC bills (reported)	30 March 2025
GO 9 on 42% BC in local bodies (reported)	26 September 2025; stayed on 9 October 2025
SC decision on state's petition on GO 9 (reported)	Dismissed, 16 October 2025
Reservation ceiling from Indra Sawhney	50%
Constitutional amendment for EWS quota	103rd Amendment, 2019
Normal upper age limit (reported)	34 years
G.O.Ms.No.30 raised limit to (reported)	46 years, February 2024, for two years
46-year relaxation lapsed (reported)	February 2026
G.O. 86 raised limit to (reported)	44 years, for one year, reported 19 May 2026
Services excluded from age relaxation (reported)	Police, excise, fire, prisons, forest
Group 1 Prelims	One paper, 150 marks (reported)
Group 1 Mains scored papers	Six, 150 marks each, plus a qualifying English paper (reported)
Group 1 posts in the 2024 cycle (reported)	563
Group 1 Mains results (reported)	10 March 2025
Group 1 general rank list (reported)	30 March 2025
Single-judge Group 1 order (reported)	9 September 2025
Division bench restored Group 1 results (reported)	5 February 2026
Group 2 papers	Four, 150 marks each, 600 total (reported)
Group 2 has an interview	No (reported)
Group 2 notification posts (reported)	783
Group 3 papers	Three, 150 marks each, 450 total (reported)
Group 3 vacancies reported for 2024	About 1,365
Group 4 papers	General Knowledge; Secretarial Abilities (reported)
Group 4 paper size	150 questions, 150 marks each (reported)
Police board portal	tgprb.in
Police stages	PWT, PMT, PET, FWE (reported)
PWT size (reported)	200 questions, 3 hours
2022 police posts (reported)	16,614
2026 police notification posts (reported)	7,437
2026 constable posts (reported)	7,112
2026 sub-inspector posts (reported)	275
2022 constable age (reported)	18 to 22
2022 sub-inspector age (reported)	21 to 25 (sources conflict)
TG TET Paper 1 is for	Classes 1 to 5
TG TET Paper 2 is for	Classes 6 to 8
TG TET duration (reported)	2 hours 30 minutes
TG TET negative marking (reported)	None
TG TET mode (reported)	Computer-based
TG TET Paper 1 questions (reported)	150, five sections of 30
TG TET January 2026 session notified (reported)	14 November 2025
TG TET June 2026 session notified (reported)	13 April 2026
DSC 2024 posts (reported)	11,062
DSC 2024 notification (reported)	29 February 2024
DSC 2024 result (reported)	30 September 2024
DSC weightage (reported)	80% DSC, 20% TET
High Court notification, January 2025 (reported)	1,673 vacancies
High Court staff age limit (reported)	18 to 34 on 1 July 2025
High Court OMR exam for Process Server (reported)	21 and 22 June 2025
Group 1 Mains subject unique to Telangana	Telangana Movement and State Formation
Group 2 paper IV	Telangana Movement and State Formation (reported)
Group 3 paper III	Economy and Development (reported)
Group 2 paper I	General Studies and General Abilities (reported)
Group 3 paper II	History, Political Science and Society (reported)
Group 1 interview marks	Not confirmed

Frequently asked questions

Who conducts Group 1, 2, 3 and 4 exams in Telangana?

The Telangana Public Service Commission (TGPSC, formerly TSPSC). It was constituted on 2 June 2014, per Wikipedia.

What is the Group 1 exam pattern?

A 150-mark Prelims screening paper, a descriptive Mains and an interview. For the 2024 cycle, a prep site lists a qualifying English paper and six scored papers of 150 marks. Check the notification for interview marks.

Is the Group 1 Mains result valid after the High Court case?

As reported, a single judge ordered re-evaluation on 9 September 2025, and a division bench set that aside on 5 February 2026, restoring the March 2025 results. We found no report of a further appeal; check for later news.

What is the Group 3 pattern?

Three objective papers of 150 marks each (450 total), reported as General Studies and General Abilities; History, Political Science and Society; and Economy and Development.

What is the Group 4 pattern?

Reported as two objective papers of 150 marks each, General Knowledge and Secretarial Abilities. A computer proficiency test is reported for some posts. Check your post.

What is the age limit for Telangana government jobs?

The normal upper limit is 34 years. A government order reported on 19 May 2026 raised it to 44 for one year for direct recruitment, excluding uniformed services. The earlier 46-year relaxation lapsed in February 2026.

What is the local rule in Telangana recruitment?

Under the 2018 Order made under Article 371-D, 95% of direct recruitment posts go to local candidates and 5% to open competition (reported). Local status needs four years of study or residence in the relevant area.

Can a non-local candidate apply for Telangana government jobs?

Reportedly yes, but only for the 5% open quota. Read the "local candidate" clause in the notification.

What are the BC groups and their percentages?

Reported: A 7%, B 10%, C 1%, D 7% and E 4%. Groups A to D add to 25%.

Has the 42% BC quota come into force for jobs?

Not as far as we could find on 4 October 2026. The Assembly passed bills in March 2025; reports said they were pending with the President. The separate 42% order for local bodies was stayed by the High Court on 9 October 2025.

How does SC sub-classification work in Telangana?

The 15% SC quota is split into Group I (1%), Group II (9%) and Group III (5%), under an Act that received assent on 8 April 2025 (reported).

How are Telangana Police constables selected?

Through a Preliminary Written Test, physical measurement and efficiency tests, and a Final Written Examination (reported). A 2026 notification for 7,437 posts is reported. Check tgprb.in.

What is TG TET?

An eligibility test for teachers of classes 1 to 5 (Paper 1) and 6 to 8 (Paper 2). It is computer-based with no negative marking (reported).

Is TET enough to become a teacher?

No. The DSC recruitment test selects teachers; the 2024 DSC reportedly weighed DSC 80% and TET 20%.

Is the 46-year age limit still in force?

Not under the reports we found. It came from an order of 8 February 2024 and lapsed in February 2026.

What is the EWS reservation in Telangana?

Reported as 10%, with a third of EWS posts for women.

Sources and verification

Time-sensitive facts (budget, exam rules, the BC reservation bills, local-body results, district count) were checked on 4 October 2026. Where sources disagreed or a figure came from a single secondary source, the text says so. Election figures are Wikipedia reproductions of Election Commission data, with the 2026-27 budget from PRS Legislative Research; cross-check Election Commission results before quoting a number in an answer. Census 2011 is the latest published census.

Facts verified on 4 October 2026. Where we could not open an official page, we say "reported" in the text. Official sites for TGPSC (tgpsc.gov.in) and the High Court did not load for us, so the commission and High Court sections rest on news and prep sites and on Wikipedia as a cross-check.

• Wikipedia, "Telangana Public Service Commission" (constitution date, appointment structure).
• Wikipedia, "Telangana State Police" (recruitment board mention).
• The South First, report on the High Court's 5 February 2026 Group 1 judgment, and search summaries of The South First's report on the 9 September 2025 order, ETV Bharat's report on the stay, and Siasat's report on the January 2026 hearing.
• Siasat, articles on G.O. No. 86 (19 May 2026) and G.O.Ms.No.30 (February 2024).
• Careers360, pages on TSPSC Group 4, TG TET June 2026, the TSLPRB 2026 notification and the BC bills (March 2025).
• Deccan Chronicle, TSLPRB 2026 notification article.
• The Quint, TSLPRB 2022 recruitment article.
• Physics Wallah, TSPSC Group 2 pattern page.
• TeachersBadi, summary of the Telangana Public Employment Order, 2018.
• Search-result summaries (not full pages) for: Group 3 pattern, TG TET pattern, DSC 2024, High Court 2025 recruitment, the SC sub-classification Act, the BC reservation percentages, the 42% BC order and its High Court and Supreme Court history, the 2022 police pattern, and Hyderabad's capital status.