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Andhra Pradesh’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led government is working on establishing the legal status of Amaravati as the state capital by having a Bill passed in the Parliament, Guntur MP and Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said on Saturday, November 22.
Speaking to the media at a meeting organised by the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (AP CRDA) on issues being faced by farmers and landowners in Amaravati, Pemmasani said, “We are hoping to introduce the Bill in the next Parliament session, to give Amaravati permanent capital status so there is a sanctity to it.”
He added that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had discussed the matter with Union Home Minister Amit Shah the last time he had visited Amaravati. “We are working with the law department and trying to move the file, which is in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Legal clearance is done. We’re hoping the Bill will be cleared (in Parliament) this time,” the TDP leader said.
The Union government on several occasions has previously said that states were free to decide their own capital, when the issue has come up in courts or in the Parliament.
Confusion prevailed over the official capital status of Amaravati ever since the previous YSR Congress Party government led by former CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy proposed to have three capitals for the state – Vizag, Kurnool, and Amaravati – each with different functions. This was challenged in court by farmers and landowners in Amaravati who protested the move, as they had given up land in the Amaravati capital region hoping to be compensated with developed plots with urban infrastructure and higher real estate value.
The YSRCP then withdrew its three capital Bills from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, saying they would be reintroduced in a different form to withstand legal challenges.
With the TDP returning to power in 2024, it promised to revive the stalled development work in Amaravati and restore its status as the sole capital of the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi re-launched Amaravati development works at a massive public meeting in May 2025, nearly 10 years after he first laid its foundation stone.
Recently in September, CM Naidu said that all development works undertaken in Amaravati taken up at a cost of Rs 50,000 crore will be completed by 2028. He said PM Modi would inaugurate the state capital once the works are completed.