Andhra Pradesh CM Naidu visits Amaravati, promises White paper on capital city

Amaravati, Jun 20 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said he is in a dilemma over Amaravati, after taking stock of the stalled projects in the greenfield capital he had championed.

He promised to soon release a White paper on the status of Amaravati and elicit suggestions from people on the way forward.

Amaravati capital city project came to a standstill from 2019 to 2024 under the previous YSRCP regime.

However, the change in government breathed life into the capital city project as Naidu categorically declared that Amaravati would be the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh.

This is the first time the CM is visiting Amaravati after assuming the office for the fourth term.

“After going around Amaravati, I am confused as to what to do. Today, I came for the first time to see where we are and what to do in the future. We will take suggestions from various quarters in the state and all the people should deliberate on this issue,” Naidu told reporters.

The Chief Minister inspected several construction projects, such as the residential quarters for officials, legislators, judges and also the stalled high court, secretariat and other construction sites.

"... we will release a white paper on Amaravati with all the details," said Naidu, accompanied by Municipal Minister P Narayana and senior officials.

The CM noted that up to 80 per cent work on these projects was completed.

According to the CM, had the Amaravati city project gone ahead as planned, the road infrastructure would have come up by now.

Naidu asserted that Amaravati is the address of five crore people of the state and termed it as people’s capital which can show direction to all.

Noting that nearly 55,000 acres of land bank is available in Amaravati from all sources, he thanked the farmers for giving up their lands for the state capital.

He praised farmers of Amaravati region who protested for 1,631 days to restore its capital status and assured that port city Visakhapatnam will be developed as the financial capital and Kurnool as a modern city.

Replying to a question from PTI Video on the Rs 500-crore palatial mansion built atop Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam during the YSRCP regime, Naidu castigated the previous regime for indulging in such extravagance when there were no financial resources in the state.

The sea-view mansion, built with ultra-luxury amenities such as Italian marble, 200 chandeliers, 12 bedrooms, and others was purportedly meant to be the residence of the former CM.

Without elaborating, Naidu said he will discuss it later. PTI STH ROH