The News Minute | October 31 2014 | 9:45 am ISTAfter a marathon cabinet meeting, the Andhra Pradesh government has chosen the Tadikonda-Thullur stretch in the Guntur district for the construction of its capital. The stretch lies near the prominent city of Vijayawada and the government has identified 30,000 acres across 17 villages for the commencement of constructing the required infrastructure. These villages were selected after careful planning and discussion for a variety of reasons. Some of them being:1) Location- The capital is going to be located on the central district of the state with 6 districts on either side of it which will enable centralization of trade in the state2) Easy accessibility to coastal districts- Since Visakhapatnam is AP’s largest city and most of its economy is from the port, the capital will have easy access to the coastal areas and will help the fisheries grow.3) Better Rail and Road connectivity- people will have better rail connectivity to the capital because of the Vijayawada railway station which is one of the busiest stations in the state and the eight lane NH-5 will be a boon for road connectivity because of its proximity to the proposed state capital. There would also be trouble-free connectivity to the Vijayawada airport.4) Availability of water- The proposed state capital will have no water problems for the foreseeable future because of the Prakasam Barrage and since the city is being planned on a river front view of the Krishna river.5) Political stronghold- The two districts of Guntur and Krishna are the political stronghold of the TDP party which is currently in power and this move ensures an advantage for the party for any upcoming elections.According to the proposed plan, the Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri urban body would be abolished and a Capital Region Development Authority would be formed, Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister P. Pulla Rao said