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Mr Chavan is a newcomer to state politics
India's ruling Congress party has announced a new chief minister of western Maharashtra state, a day after his predecessor resigned over his alleged role in a scam.
Prithviraj Chavan succeeds Ashok Chavan as the new chief minister.
Mr Chavan, who was the junior minister of science and technology, has an engineering degree from University of California, Berkeley.
Maharashtra is one of India's leading states.
It contributes more than 40% of the national revenues and its capital, Mumbai, is India's financial centre and home to Bollywood, one of the world's largest film industries.
Mr Chavan has worked closely with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a minister in his office and is a relative newcomer to politics in Maharashtra, correspondents say.
He is a member of India's upper house of parliament.
A new chief minister became necessary after his predecessor Ashok Chavan resigned on Tuesday over his alleged role in a scam involving homes for war widows in Mumbai.
It was reported last month that three of his relatives had bought apartments in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society in Mumbai's upmarket Colaba area.
Mr Chavan has denied any wrongdoing in relation to the Mumbai housing project.
Just days ago, Mr Chavan shook Barack Obama's hand when the US president landed in India.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mr Chavan is a newcomer to state politics India's ruling Congress party has announced a new chief minister of western Maharashtra state, a day after his predecessor resigned over his alleged role in a scam.
Prithviraj Chavan succeeds Ashok Chavan as the new chief minister.
Mr Chavan, who was the junior minister of science and technology, has an engineering degree from University of California, Berkeley.
Maharashtra is one of India's leading states.
It contributes more than 40% of the national revenues and its capital, Mumbai, is India's financial centre and home to Bollywood, one of the world's largest film industries.
Mr Chavan has worked closely with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a minister in his office and is a relative newcomer to politics in Maharashtra, correspondents say.
He is a member of India's upper house of parliament.
A new chief minister became necessary after his predecessor Ashok Chavan resigned on Tuesday over his alleged role in a scam involving homes for war widows in Mumbai.
It was reported last month that three of his relatives had bought apartments in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society in Mumbai's upmarket Colaba area.
Mr Chavan has denied any wrongdoing in relation to the Mumbai housing project.
Just days ago, Mr Chavan shook Barack Obama's hand when the US president landed in India.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.