Amaravati rebuild unstoppable: Naidu

Amaravati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said Amaravati’s reconstruction would advance “unstoppably” with sustained central government’s support and a clear development roadmap, crediting the Union government for pulling Andhra Pradesh “out of the ventilator” after what he described as five years of administrative disruption.

The Chief Minister made the remarks while joining Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to lay the foundation stone for the headquarters of 15 public-sector banks and insurance companies in the capital.

In the presence of Sitharaman and Naidu, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and CRDA signed an MoU to build an international-standard planetarium in Amaravati. Naidu said that reconstruction had restarted at the hands of the Prime Minister and had gathered momentum in recent months.

He added that the Centre had cooperated fully in releasing funds, including the approval of Rs 15,000 crore for capital development and Rs 1,000 crore for the new diaphragm wall at Polavaram irrigation project. He praised the GST 2.0 reforms and said they had strengthened both the national economy and household finances.

Naidu said the state had been created amid severe constraints, division, loss of the knowledge economy to Hyderabad and the absence of a capital and argued that Amaravati’s five-year disruption had inflicted deep economic damage. He credited Sitharaman with stabilising the state’s finances and said Andhra Pradesh was now implementing every Central reform to ensure tangible benefits for citizens. He said Rs 56,000 crore worth of projects had been launched in Amaravati, including the Seed Access Road, seven national-highway linkages and a new railway corridor connecting the capital region.

He added that Amaravati would be developed with green-cover, net-zero and modern-urban standards, supported by institutions such as SRM, BITS Pilani, NID and global universities. He said Quantum Valley and the new planetarium would anchor Amaravati’s future-facing ecosystem.

The Chief Minister said India was on course to become the world’s top economy by 2047 and Andhra Pradesh would play a significant role. He announced timelines of 2027 for Polavaram’s completion and 2028 for Amaravati’s full emergence as a national-pride capital. He cited the Centre’s role in stabilising Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and said the Prime Minister’s support was enabling the proposed Google data centre in Visakhapatnam.

Naidu urged Central support for the Godavari–Krishna rivers linkage, the Polavaram–Nallamala project and drought-mitigation plans for Rayalaseema. He said these would make the state drought-free and unlock long-term agricultural security.

The Chief Minister said the sacrifice of Amaravati’s farmers - 29,000 farmers contributing 34,000 acres under the land-pooling system - remains the moral foundation of the capital project. He said the previous government’s policies had denied them their due capital gains and requested Sitharaman to extend deadlines and ensure that all legitimate benefits reach them. If this support continues, he said, Amaravati’s rise would be “unstoppable.”

On this occasion, the foundation stones were laid for the head-office complexes of 15 public-sector banks and financial institutions, including State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, Union Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Andhra Pradesh Grameena Bank, APCAB, NABARD, LIC and New India Assurance Company Limited, marking a major financial-sector footprint in Amaravati.