Describing Visakhapatnam as the natural choice to be named as the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh, Anakapalle MLA and YSRCP leader Gudivada Amarnath said on Thursday that construction of new buildings in the core area of Amaravati in an area of 55,000 acres would have a led to an expenditure of ₹1 lakh crore.
Mr. Amarnath told reporters here that the proposal mooted by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was aimed at preventing a lot of ‘avoidable’ expenditure for an already cash-starved State.
“Besides spending ₹1 lakh crore on constructing buildings in Amaravati, another ₹2 lakh crore would have been required to create the necessary infrastructure. On the other hand, readymade facilities like road and rail connectivity, ports, an international airport, health city, educational institutions and a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridor already exist in Visakhapatnam. Building a Secretariat and some government buildings on the city outskirts would require just ₹1,000 crore to ₹2,000 crore,” said Mr. Amarnath.
The decision to locate the executive capital in Visakhapatnam is not final yet, reiterated Mr. Amarnath. “We will wait for the report of the expert committee headed by former IAS officer G.N. Rao before taking a decision,” he said. “All stakeholders would be consulted before taking a final call, unlike the first Chief Minister of bifurcated Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu,” he said.
‘Insider trading’
“Mr. Naidu created a lot of hype over Amaravati by misleading people and indulged in insider trading to allow his family members and close lieutenants Sujana Chowdary, C.M. Ramesh and K. Narayana to buy land in the capital region by ignoring the recommendation of the Sivaramakrishna Commission,” Mr. Amarnath alleged.
Mr. Naidu deliberately initiated a debate on making Nuzvid or Donakonda the capital and later announced Amaravati as the capital with an ‘ulterior motive’ to indulge in real estate business, the MLA added.
The YSRCP leader said developing an executive capital in Visakhapatnam would help backward areas of North Andhra and East and West Godavari districts in getting new projects and claimed that North Andhra was able to get a Health City, IT SEZ at Rushikonda and other projects only during the rule of late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
