Amaravati – the capital of Andhra Pradesh - has become the talk of the town after a long 5-year gap. It is because N Chandrababu Naidu - who once envisioned the city as an epitome of ambition and modernity - is back in power.
In May 2024, Andhra Pradesh went for state assembly elections. But for the people of Andhra Pradesh, it was not just about electing their representatives at the assembly polls but also the quest for the state's new capital.
The Telugu Desam Party - under the leadership of N. Chandrababu Naidu - won with a thumping majority, leaving YSRCP's Jagan Mohan Reddy way behind. In line with the results, Naidu will be sworn in as the state's chief minister on June 12th. And with his comeback, the Amaravati project has a new lease on life. But all the hurdles are still not out of the way as the cost of building the ambitious city has almost doubled.
In the 2014 state elections run-up, Naidu pitched Amravati as the state's capital. It was because, in 2014, the southern state of Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated into Telangana and the residuary state of Andhra. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014 stated that Hyderabad would be Andhra Pradesh's capital for 10 years only, which ended on June 2nd, 2024.
Considering this, Naidu proposed an aspirational project when he came to power in 2014. The work on the project - whose estimated cost was a whopping 21,000 crore rupees - had begun.
But all plans halted in 2019 when the Naidu-led government was ousted. And when YSRCP's Jagan Mohan Reddy became the state's chief minister, he trashed all plans of Amravati becoming the state's capital. During his tenure, Amravati was reduced to a ghost city with barren land, isolated, under-constructed buildings, and empty roads with no population. However, Naidu is back in the driver's seat again.
Several TDP leaders have shown confidence in the Amaravati project. Not just this, real estate players are also buzzing with renewed optimism. The question now is: What is the updated cost to build the Amaravati project?
Well, as per the industry estimates, the revised cost of building Amaravati has almost doubled to 40,000 crore rupees from the earlier 21,000 crore rupees - which was estimated by the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority. The project included state-of-the-art infrastructure, high-rise buildings, theme-based districts, an expansive secretariat, and a high-tech High Court.
During Chandrababu Naidu's previous tenure, 10,500 crore rupees out of the estimated 21,000 crore rupees was already spent on the city's development. The remaining 10,000-12,000 crore rupees were kept for the construction of buildings.
As per the initial plan, the city was spread over 217 square kilometers - which roughly translates into approximately 53,622 acres. Out of this, farmers have pooled 33,000 acres and the government has about 4,000 acres. Now, the state still needs 16,622 acres of land.
The government expects to obtain about 12,000 acres of land for sale. However, the prices of land are shooting through the roof. Given the prices are reaching 30,000 rupees per square yard, the government anticipates generating 10 crore rupees per acre. And to top it all, real estate players believe that prices can go up to even 25 crore rupees per acre.
While these are just land prices, other charges to build this Singapore-inspired 'sustainable city' of Amaravati will double the project cost to around 40,000 crore rupees.
#chandrababunaidu #amravati #andhrapradesh
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