Published Feb 24, 2026 | 4:50 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 24, 2026 | 4:50 PM
The decision is likely to snowball in the coming weeks. Credit: x.com/ncbn, x.com/ysjagan
Synopsis: Andhra Pradesh government, led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, has moved to reclaim 900 acres in Amaravati previously allotted as house sites to 51,000 poor families under the YSRCP. Officials cite violations of the 2016 master plan, with CRDA set to cancel pattas and reallocate plots elsewhere.
In a major reversal of previous YSRCP government’s policy, the Andhra Pradesh government is understood to have decided to reclaim nearly 900 acres of prime land in Amaravati allotted as house sites.
The decision is likely to snowball in the coming weeks as it is related to cancellation of plots allotted to the poor in Amaravati.
At the recent meeting of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) chaired by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, officials were directed to take back the land distributed to 51,000 beneficiaries under former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The land parcels, each measuring one cent, were allotted free of cost between 2020 and 2023. The beneficiaries were largely landless families, including Dalits, backward classes and women from Guntur and Vijayawada districts.
The previous government had pitched the scheme as a pro-poor measure, saying it would provide house sites “even inside the new capital.”
However, the present government says the move violated the Amaravati master plan notified in 2016. Sources who attended the February 21 meeting said Naidu made his stand clear.
“The Amaravati master plan cannot be compromised. These lands were meant for capital development, not distribution,” he reportedly told officials.
The 900 acres of land belonged to the CRDA and was earmarked for capital city development. During the YSRCP tenure, the land was transferred to the Revenue Department. A special “R5” residential zone was created to regularise the allotments.
CRDA sources now describe the move as a blatant deviation from the statutory master plan. They also point out that the Revenue Department did not transfer the equivalent market value of the land back to the CRDA. That financial lapse has now become the government’s legal foothold to reclaim the land.
The Chief Minister has directed CRDA officials to issue a formal notice to the Revenue Department. The notice will seek return of the 900 acres, cancellation of 51,000 pattas issued in the R5 zone, freshh allotment of one-cent plots to the same beneficiaries in their native villages or nearby habitations.
Until the land is physically handed back and its value credited, CRDA is likely to treat it as “encroached,” sources said. “Since no funds were transferred to CRDA, the legality of the earlier transfer itself becomes questionable,” the sources said.
