The curious case of Amaravati: Andhra CM Naidu's ambitious capital dream – launched, halted, and restarted

Prime Minister Narendra Modi relaunched the construction works for Amaravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, on 2 May. 

Modi laid the foundation for and inaugurated as many as 94 projects worth ₹57,962 crore for Andhra Pradesh at a mega event in Velagapudi on Friday. The projects include five towers of the Amaravati Government Complex, the High Court and the Legislative Assembly Building, to name a few.

Naidu, whose TDP is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally, had proposed Amaravati as a futuristic capital, strategically located between Vijayawada and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh about a decade ago when he was the chief minister. Modi had then laid the foundation stone of Amaravati on October 22, 2015, in his first term as PM, during an event in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. 

The then TDP government, led by Naidu, had initiated a few development works only to be halted by the next government of YSR Congress party lead by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy (2019-2024). 

33,000 acres from 30,000 farmers

The previous Naidu government (between 2014 and 2019) pooled about 33,000 acres of fertile agricultural land from 30,000 farmers across 29 villages of the state for the ambitious capital dream. The farmers were promised land plots post-development, along with monetary benefits, in return. 

However, the works came to a halt after the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) lost power in 2019, and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) formed the government. Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to have three state capitals instead of Amaravati. Reddy administration said Amaravati was not sustainable. 

With the TDP-led NDA storming to power in June 2024 again, Naidu decided to resume work on his dream project, which has been pending for about 10 years now amid uncertainty, legal tangles, and political turmoil.

Like a dream coming true: Modi

At the relaunch on Friday, Modi heaped praises on Naidu. “When I was Gujarat CM, I used to observe CM Chandrababu Naidu,” he said highlighting how Naidu’s early efforts in Hyderabad’s IT sector inspired his own initiatives as Gujarat CM.

“Today, I stand on the sacred land of Amaravati. When I look at Amaravati, it doesn’t feel like just a city— it feels like a dream coming true. It feels like a new Andhra Pradesh, a new Amaravati,” Modi said

Amaravati was envisaged as the new capital of the state for the first time in 2014 when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated into two states and Hyderabad became the capital of Telangana.

Of the ₹57,962 crore worth of projects launched by PM Modi on Friday, ₹49,000 crore is earmarked for 74 major infrastructure projects in Amaravati, including the construction of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Secretariat, High Court, and residences for judicial officers.

Modi also laid the foundation stone for one project at the DRDO Missile Testing Centre, worth ₹1,459 crore, for Unity Mall, Visakhapatnam, DPIIT, worth ₹100 crore. He also laid the foundation stone for Guntakal-Mallappa gate rail overbridge, which will be built at a cost of ₹293 crore besides six new National Highway projects worth ₹3,176 crore.

Modi also inaugurated eight completed national highway projects built at a cost of ₹3,680 crore.

The cost of a ten-year old dream

Amaravati is the ten-year-old dream of Naidu, the Chief Minister. In 2015, the construction of projects in Amaravati was estimated to be ₹ 27,097 crore. In 2025, the cost has jumped to ₹64,721 crore, according to estimates.

When the idea of Amaravati was first floated in 2014, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, then in opposition, decided to support it in the Assembly. Reddy, however, criticised the land acquisition of 33,000 acres of fields, where three crops can be grown a year, for the construction of the capital.

In October 2015, Reddy didn't attend the Amaravati foundation stone laying ceremony where PM Modi was the chief guest. Later, YSR Congress alleged that a land scam worth thousands of crores had taken place in the capital area.

In the run-up to the 2019 assembly polls, Jagan Mohan Reddy reassured the public that they are committed to Amaravati as the capital. He also built a house in Tadepalli in Amaravati before the elections and moved in.

Regime Change

Things changed when TDP lost power in 2019 and YSR Congress under US Jagan Reddy came to power. On December 17, 2019, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on the last day of the first session of the then Assembly, announced three capitals for Andhra Pradesh.

“If you look at South Africa, there are three capitals there. Perhaps the legislative capital can be placed in Amaravati. The executive capital can be placed in Visakhapatnam and the High Court in Kurnool.” He said that Amaravati needs ₹1.9 lakh crore for construction, which the state cannot afford.

In March 2022, however, the Three Capitals Act was repealed. Jagan Reddy though said he was committed to three capitals and that his government will bring in stronger legislation in the future.

Ghost Capital – Amaravati

From 2019 to 2024, the ambitious project was left untouched. Farmers filed petitions in the courts, staged protests demanding continuity of the original plan for Amaravati.

Images of partially constructed buildings and abandoned plots earned Amaravati a reputation of a ‘Ghost Capital.’ Most of the infrastructural projects were stalled or shelved. International collaborations, including with Singapore and Japanese firms, lapsed or scaled down operations.

A 2023 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) raised questions about expenditure patterns, inconsistencies in land allotments, and cost overruns in capital works. By 2019, more than ₹15,000 crore had already been spent, with little visible progress.

On 5 March 2022, the Andhra Pradesh High Court said that Legislative Assembly does not have the authority to change the capital. It also imposed a time limit for the construction of Amaravati. The Andhra Pradesh government moved the Supreme Court against this verdict. The case is pending.

In June 2024, the TDP returned to power after winning the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Election with the help of the BJP and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena, and Naidu revived his Amaravati capital dream.

"The spirit of patriotism echoed through Amaravati as we marked its restart today. On behalf of the people of Andhra Pradesh, I reaffirmed our full support to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji in his mission to protect and serve our nation," Chief Minister Naidu said on Friday.