Resuming the Amaravati capital region development works, Naidu said Visakhapatnam will be developed as the state's financial capital, and a high court bench will be set up in Kurnool.
Published Oct 19, 2024 | 5:09 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 20, 2024 | 11:20 AM
Central cabinet clears crucial railway connectivity to Amaravati at a cost of Rs. 2,245 crore(Supplied)
Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu resumed the development works of Amaravati, the state capital, by performing a puja at the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) office, Rayapudi, on Saturday, 19 October.
The Amaravati development works have been stalled for the past five years since the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government favoured a three-capital model.
The remaining works of the seven-storey CRDA office are estimated to cost about ₹160 crore. The work started when the TDP was in power in 2018. A decision to resume construction of Amaravati buildings was taken at a recent CRDA meeting.
On Saturday, Naidu said the resumption of Amaravati works was rewriting history. He recalled the troubles and travails everyone had gone through when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated in 2014.
“We developed Cyberabad in Hyderabad. We started the works of International Airport at Shamshabad in Hyderabad in undivided Andhra Pradesh between 1999 and 2004,” he said.
He recalled the emotional moments in 2015 when farmers gave their lands under the land pooling system for the development of Amaravati. The government had acquired 54,000 acres for the capital, including 34,400 acres from farmers.
Naidu said Visakhapatnam would be developed as the state’s financial capital, besides setting up a high court bench in Kurnool.
“I want to speed up the Amaravati works. The World Bank, too, has consented to release the loan that we have sought,” the chief minister said.
Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana said the CRDA had resolved all technical problems over the past four months. He said that though the state was in financial dire straits, it had made annuity payments to farmers who gave their land under land pooling for the construction of the capital.
The CRDA has so far spent ₹61.5 crore on the construction of its 2.42 lakh sq ft office.
The resumption of the works has been viewed as a watershed moment in realising Naidu’s dream project of Amaravati. Former chief minister Jagan, who focused on having three capitals, preferred the executive capital in Visakhapatnam.
After Naidu took over as the chief minister of the truncated state of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, his main focus was the construction of Amaravati capital. After returning to power for the second time in June 2024, the chief minister flogged the dead horse alive.
Naidu, immediately after his poll victory, said his immediate priorities were to get Polavaram and Amaravati projects going and he began taking steps in that direction.
In his recent visit to Delhi, the chief minister had put pressure on the Union government to intervene in availing overseas loans for Amravati.
Naidu’s exhortation followed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman’s promise in the national budget that the Centre would help the state execute the Amaravati project by arranging ₹15,000 crore through multilateral development agencies.
Accordingly, the Centre cleared ₹13,600 crore loans from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank for Amaravati. The total cost of the Amaravati project would entail an estimated investment of ₹49,000 crore.
The World Bank and Asian Development Bank teams had already visited Amaravati.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for Amaravati on Vijayadashami day, 22 October 2015, at Vuddandarayanipalem in Thullur Mandal in Guntur district.
The then Telangana chief minister, K Chandrashekar Rao, also attended the ceremony. The construction of a temporary building for the state Secretariat was completed at Velagapudi in October 2016 at a cost of ₹230 crore.
Later, the Andhra Pradesh High Court was housed in a new building that came in Amaravati. The building with 16 court halls spread over 2.7 lakh sq ft was inaugurated by the then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
After returning to power for the second time in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu decided to use the same designs for Amaravati finalised during his first term. Tenders for the construction of the buildings — including for those left halfway — are expected to be floated soon.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
