Maharashtra generates more of India’s GDP than any other state. Its capital, Mumbai, is also home to Bollywood.
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General Knowledge · GK0060
Maharashtra: State Profile
India’s economic powerhouse, and home to Bollywood
1 May 1960
State formed, split from Bombay State
307,713 km²
3rd-largest state by area
13-14%
Share of India’s total GDP
#1
Highest GSDP of any Indian state
CapitalMumbai
Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis
GovernorJishnu Dev Varma
Known ForBSE, Bollywood
Two capitals in one city
Mumbai is both India’s financial capital, home to the Bombay Stock Exchange, and its entertainment capital, home to the Hindi film industry, Bollywood.
Must Know
- Maharashtra’s capital is Mumbai.
- The state was formed on 1 May 1960. It split from the bilingual Bombay State, along with Gujarat, under the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960.
- 1 May is celebrated every year as Maharashtra Day.
- As of 2026, the Chief Minister is Devendra Fadnavis, in office since 5 December 2024. This is his third term as CM.
- The Governor is Jishnu Dev Varma, in office since 10 March 2026.
Good to Know
- Maharashtra covers about 307,713 square kilometres. It is India’s third-largest state by area, after Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
- It borders six states and one Union Territory. These are Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Karnataka, Goa, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
- Maharashtra has India’s largest Gross State Domestic Product. It contributes about 13-14% of the country’s total GDP.
- Mumbai hosts the Bombay Stock Exchange, Asia’s oldest stock exchange. See IndEco0060 — Capital Markets and Mutual Funds for more on India’s capital markets.
- Mumbai is also home to Bollywood, India’s Hindi-language film industry, and one of the world’s largest film industries by output.
- Maharashtra declared the Blue Mormon as its state butterfly in June 2015, India’s first state to name one. See EnvEco0086 — Maharashtra’s Blue Mormon, India’s First State Butterfly.
- Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar serve alongside Fadnavis, in a three-party BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP “Mahayuti” coalition government.
- B.G. Kher was the first Chief Minister of Bombay State, the joint province Maharashtra and Gujarat later split from, serving from 1947 to 1952. See ModHist0222 — B.G. Kher.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- Maharashtra and Gujarat’s 1960 split resolved a long-running linguistic movement, the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti, which had pushed for a separate Marathi-speaking state.
- Mumbai’s dual identity, as both India’s financial capital and its entertainment capital, makes it unusually concentrated in economic influence for a single city.
- Maharashtra’s coalition government structure, three parties sharing power under one Chief Minister, reflects a broader pattern of post-2019 alliance politics in the state.
- The Ladki Bahin Yojana, a cash-transfer scheme for women launched in June 2024, is widely credited with the coalition’s big 2024 election win. See IndSoc0063 — Ladki Bahin Yojana.
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