Several Indian cities have been renamed in recent years to reflect local languages and nationalist sentiment.

India's well-heeled city of Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi on Tuesday was formally renamed 'Gurugram' by the local Hindu nationalist government, an official said.

Also dubbed Millennium City, the satellite town near the capital is home to scores of top multinational companies, expensive condominiums, a world-class golf course, top hospitals and gleaming shopping malls.

"Yes, that is correct. Gurgaon will now be called Gurugram," Shiv Bhatia, a spokesman for the government of northern Haryana state told AFP when asked about reports, without giving further details.

The state government, controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party switched to "Gurugram" - an ancient name for the area meaning "village of the guru" - following a longstanding local campaign, reports said.

The guru referred to in the new name is Guru Dronacharya, a master archer who figures in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata.

"The District derived its name from the name of Guru Dronacharya... it came to be known as Guru-gram, which in course of time got distorted to Gurgaon," the district's official website states.

Several Indian cities have been renamed in recent years to reflect local languages and nationalist sentiment.

The southern state of Kerala renamed its capital Trivandrum to Thiruvananthapuram and Maharashtra state's Bombay became Mumbai.

Similarly, southern Tamil Nadu's state capital, Madras, was renamed Chennai and West Bengal's Calcutta became Kolkata.

India's IT hub of Bangalore was also changed to Bengaluru, meaning "the town of boiled beans".

Twitter meanwhile had a field day once the news was announced.

"How many Grams would you like sir?"



"I'd like a #Gurugram."



"But that's like a whole City!" - Ashwin Mushran (@ashwinmushran) April 12, 2016

Gurgaon would be called #Gurugram? Let's rename Kerala to Kilogram while we are at it. - Elroy (@TheElroy) April 12, 2016

Many people slept in Gurgaon and woke up in #Gurugram an hour later. - Roý (@MixedRaita) April 12, 2016

After #Gurugram I vote to change the name of the country to IIN-DIA. - Sahil Shah (@SahilBulla) April 12, 2016

Gurgaon will now be called Gurugram. Instagram will now be called Instagaon. - Ajith (@ajith27) April 12, 2016

Girls, stop clicking selfies, Gurugram has nothing to do with Instagram - Ra_Bies (@Ra_Bies) April 12, 2016

Feeling a bit better now about staying in Noida #Gurugram - Aman Sharma (@AmanKayamHai) April 12, 2016

Does not matter to me if its Gurgaon or Gurugram,because for me its "ALWAYS TRAFFIC JAM" pic.twitter.com/g4BJG82VSI - Deadpool_Thug (@bhaisaabkoram) April 12, 2016

Gurgaon is now Gurugram? Congrats to all contract suppliers of stationery to Haryana Government... - Kerala Paneer Forum (@sidin) April 12, 2016

Gurugram is just an Instagram with pictures of traffic on the highway. - Pranav (@pranavsapra) April 12, 2016

Just heard that Gurgaon has been renamed to 'Don't Come Here'. - Ashish Shakya (@stupidusmaximus) April 12, 2016

-AFP