Indian state of Kerala to be renamed

 The Indian federal Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to rename the South Indian state of Kerala to Keralam.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It may be noted that hundreds of thousands of Indian expatriates from the Kerala state reside in the GCC, including in the Sultanate of Oman.

After the cabinet's approval, the president of India will refer a Bill, namely the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to the Kerala Assembly for expressing its views under the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution of India.

After receipt of the views of the Kerala Assembly, the government of India will obtain the recommendation of the president for the introduction of the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to alter the name of Kerala to Keralam in Parliament, an official release said.

The Kerala Assembly passed a resolution on June 24, 2024, to alter the name of Kerala to Keralam.

'The name of the state is 'Keralam' in the Malayalam Language. States were formed based on language on November 1, 1956.