'Victory For The People': Amaravati Declared Sole Capital Of India's Andhra Pradesh

2026-04-07 02:24:44

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Amaravati was officially declared as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh state on Tuesday, a day after Indian President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

The Indian parliament had passed the bill last week.

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu thanked the president for her approval, and said it was the "fulfilment of a long-cherished aspiration of the people."

He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for its continued support and guidance in enacting the law. He said it was“victory for the people of Andhra Pradesh,” especially the farmers of Amaravati who sacrificed a lot.

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The decision came 12 years after the division of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state (which had Hyderabad as its capital) into two. Though Hyderabad became the capital of Telangana, it was jointly shared with Andhra Pradesh for 10 years under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation act of 2014.

In 2015, Naidu had conceptualised Amaravati as the new capital, but after he lost the elections in 2019, the move was virtually shelved by the YSR Congress government, which proposed a three-capital model, including Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, Amaravati as the legislative capital, and Kurnool as the judicial capital. The plan faced many challenges and could not be implemented.

Future-ready city

The 2024 elections saw Naidu's Telugu Desam Party come to power as part of the National Democratic Alliance government. Over the past two years, he has been pushing Amaravati as a major centre for foreign investments. Naidu aims to transform the capital into a $2.4 trillion economy by 2047. He told the media that he wants it to be a future-ready city, built on innovation and excellence.

Nityanand Rai, India's junior minister for home affairs, described the move as a historic moment for the state and the Telugu community worldwide, which restores the pride, faith and democratic confidence for the 50 million people of Andhra Pradesh.

The southern Indian state has one of the largest NRI (non-resident Indian) populations living across the world. There are a million NRIs from the state in the Gulf region and another million in the US. There are half a million Telugu-speaking people in Malaysia, besides thousands elsewhere in Canada, the UK, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.