The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal of Kerala government to change the name of the state to Keralam, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at its first meeting held at Seva Teerth, the new PMO complex.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the prime minister approved the proposal for alterating the name of state of Kerala as 'Keralam', Vaishnaw said. After approval of Union Cabinet, the president of India will refer a Bill, namely the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala for expressing its views under proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution of India.