If Vizag is as Good as Bengaluru & Goa, Why is Amaravati Still Andhra's Capital?

In its latest bid to promote Visakhapatnam as the IT hub of Andhra Pradesh, the TDP-led NDA government has sold 21 acres of land at just 99 paise to Tata Consultancy Services. TCS is set to launch its office in the Port City and generate 12,000 IT jobs.

Explaining the government’s intentions, IT and HRD Minister Nara Lokesh quipped during a recent interview, “If Goa and Bengaluru were to marry, the child they would have could be Visakhapatnam.”

Now, one cannot help but wonder why the Chandrababu Naidu government has decided to build Amaravati from scratch and develop it as the capital of Andhra Pradesh, if Vizag is indeed that good.

After the bifurcation in 2014, the TDP formed the government in alliance with the BJP and declared Amaravati as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. While Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu potrayed the entire exercise of acquiring land as a collective effort to build the State’s new capital, a large-scale land monetisation scheme was unfolding in the background.

When the YSRCP emerged victorious in 2019, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy proposed a three-capital plan with Vizag as the executive capital, Amaravati as the administrative capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital. The aim was to promote decentralised governance and development in the State. Making Vizag the capital was the logical step to take as it is a developed city with an efficiently functioning port, capable of competing with metropolitans like Telangana’s Hyderabad, Karnataka’s Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu’s Chennai.

Now, the same sentiment has been expressed by Lokesh. Yet, the TDP government is on the path to build Amaravati. The recent developments in Amaravati point at history repeating itself.

The Opposition YSRCP, along with civil society watchdogs and former bureaucrats like EAS Sarma and IYR Krishna Rao, have raised red flags over Naidu’s Amaravati model. They have alleged that the project is less about governance infrastructure and more about facilitating a land economy under the guise of capital development.

Of the roughly 37,000 acres pooled from farmers during Naidu’s 2015-19 tenure, only a fraction of around 2,000 to 3,000 acres has been used for actual government infrastructure, including the secretariat, legislature, high court, and housing for officials. Another 2,000 to 3,000 acres have been handed over to central institutions and allied establishments.

However, the remaining land has become a matter of public interest. Speculation is that the land is being steadily funneled into the hands of private corporations, including real estate developers, hotel chains, IT parks, and educational ventures, in a bid to transform Amaravati into one of India’s most lucrative property ventures.

Amid these rumours, the Chandrababu Naidu government has announced that it will acquire an additional 30,000 to 40,000 acres for infrastructure projects like the Outer Ring Road, international airport, and key transit corridors.

Despite accepting that Visakhapatnam is a city capable of driving Andhra’s growth, the TDP government’s push to pour in financial resources into developing Amaravati has in a way validated these suspicions.

Also read: Amaravati: ₹4,195.91-Crore Secretariat Tenders Invited; Corruption Allegations Surface