According to CM Jagan Reddy, Visakhapatnam will be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.

CM Jagan Reddy, Visakhapatnam will be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh capital: The YSR Congress chief has invited investors to the new capital during a global summit next month to “see for themselves how easy it is to do business” in his state.

Andhra Pradesh’s new capital will be Visakhapatnam, chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced Tuesday afternoon, indicating that plans to develop Amaravati – on the banks of the Krishna river – as the state capital have been abandoned.

The announcement of a new capital for Andhra comes nine years after the state of Telangana was formed and given Hyderabad as its capital.

The YSR Congress chief stated at an event in Delhi: “… I cordially invite you to Visakhapatnam, which will serve as our capital in the coming days. In the coming months, I will also relocate to Visakhapatnam.”

Read Also: Shah Rukh Khan’s actioner Movie Pathaan box office to break yet another KGF 2 record

“We’re organising a global summit… an investors summit on March 3-4 (in Visakhapatnam), and I’d like to personally invite all of you to the summit… and request that you not only come but also put in a good word, a strong word, to colleagues abroad,” the chief minister said.

He urged investors to “visit us and see… how easy it is to do business in the state of Andhra Pradesh” at the International Diplomatic Alliance meeting in Delhi.

The identity of Andhra Pradesh’s new capital, for which over 33,000 acres of land had been acquired from farmers around Amaravati, has been the source of social, legal, economic, and political strife in recent years.

Former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced in 2015 that Amaravati would be the capital, but five years later, a proposal to have three capital cities was floated.

Former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced in 2015 that Amaravati would be the capital, but five years later, a proposal to have three capital cities was floated.

According to that plan, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool would join Amaravati; the latter would be the legislative capital, Kurnool the judicial capital, and Visakhapatnam the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Read Also:

The Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled against the plan to have three capitals in March of last year, instead directing the government to develop Amaravati. The court ruled that the legislature lacked the authority to make such decisions.

The state repealed the law intended to establish three capital cities in November, promising a ‘comprehensive, complete, and better’ proposal.

However, in an unexpected turn of events, the Supreme Court stayed that judgement, stating that “courts are not governments” and that the High Court had overstepped its bounds.

Meanwhile, amid the back-and-forth over a new capital, Amaravati became the epicentre of a land scam, an allegation levelled by the ruling YSR Congress against its rival and former ruling outfit, the Telugu Desam Party.