Tight security for India's newest state

Security was heavy on Ranchi streets

India has welcomed the formation of its 28th state, Jharkhand, amid heavy security.

More than 5,000 police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in the capital, Ranchi, to guard against violence from Maoist rebels.

The rebels have killed a senior police official and the wife of an administrator in the past month.

Jharkhand came into being at midnight on Tuesday (1830 GMT) with the swearing in of the new Chief Minister, Babulal Marandi of India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Mineral-rich

60% of world's mica reserves

37% of India's coal reserves

22% of India's iron ore reserves

40% of India's copper reserves

Only producer of uranium

Mr Marandi has been asked to prove his majority in the state assembly within 15 days.

The new state is a result of decades of struggle by tribal leaders who demanded a state of their own.

But the immediate threat faced by the new government is the challenge posed by the rebels, who have a powerful presence in the hills of the state.

"Law and order has to be priority number one," said Ranchi industrialist Sanjay Seth.

Mineral rich

Jharkhand has been created out of 18 impoverished districts of the eastern state of Bihar.

The region is very rich in mineral resources but had seen very little development while it was a part of Bihar.

Mismanagement has turned once prosperous state-owned firms such as Coal India Limited, Heavy Engineering Corporation and Hindustan Copper into dying units.

Experts say ending the indiscriminate exploitation of mineral resources and reviving the state-owned firms could turn Jharkhand into an economic powerhouse.

Babulal Marandi is the first chief minister

"We can be the Ruhr of India," Niral Enem Horo, a local architect, told the French news agency AFP.

"Jharkhand contributes about 30% of India's mineral resources and even at the present rate of exploitation, it is likely to last for three to four centuries," Jharkhand analysts SP Singh and Uday Kumar said.

But the key lies in better management of the state's resources.

Jharkhand has 20 million people who stand to benefit from the fruits of development.

And that would be weighing heavily on the mind the new chief minister when he is sworn in at midnight.