Andhra Pradesh Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P. Narayana.
| Photo Credit: File Photo

To prove that construction of Amaravati capital city is a self-sustained project, the Government of Andhra Pradesh did not allocate funds for it in the Budget for 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, asserted P. Narayana, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development.

“The government did not purchase land from the farmers. It mobilised land under the unique Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) without spending money. The farmers gave about 34,000 acres of agriculture land to the A.P. Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) for constructing a greenfield capital city,” Mr. Narayana told The Hindu.

Out of the land pooled under the LPS, about 5,000 acres would be available for sale to the national and international institutions, and the APCRDA would get the revenue needed to repay the loans obtained for construction of the capital city, Mr. Narayana explained.

“After accepting Amaravati as the capital city initially, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) opposed it after coming to power, and started destroying it,” the Minister alleged.

After storming to power in 2024, the NDA government restarted the project on a grand scale and invited tenders worth ₹64,000 crore. “Our aim is to develop Amaravati not only as a city, but also as a growth engine leading the development of the State,” Mr. Narayana added.

R5 Zone

He alleged that the former Chief Minister, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, had tried to destroy the project with a political motive. The YSRCP government had allocated more than 1,400 acres of land for construction of 50,000 houses to the beneficiaries from various districts by creating the ‘R5 Zone’ within the core capital city.

“Now, the APCRDA and the District Collectors concerned are scouting for alternative land for these beneficiaries at their native places. On allocation of alternative land, the government will convince the beneficiaries to return the land in Amaravati,” Mr. Narayana said.

Tadikonda MLA Tenali Sravan Kumar said the loans being taken by the APCRDA could be repaid by selling lands.