Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Monday said there was no set time limit for a decision on the demand for a separate state of Telangana, to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. He said the government was keen on a resolution of the issue.

“It is not a closed chapter. There is no (time) limit,” Shinde said, answering queries from reporters at his monthly press conference.

Shinde had, in December, set a timeline of one month for arriving at a decision on the contentious issue of statehood for Telangana. That deadline expired Jan 28. “The issue is open, to do it this way or that way. We are interested,” Shinde said.Congress leaders in Andhra Pradesh are divided on regional lines on the demand for statehood for Telangana.