It’s Vijayawada

Naidu: Vijayawada-Guntur most suited for AP capital

• AP CM makes the announcement in Assembly
• Jagan welcomes the decision; All’s well that ends well
• To appease people of Seema and North Coastal Andhra, Naidu promises to develop Kurnool and Vizag as metros that will rival Singapore
• State will have 3 mega cities and 14 Smart cities
• Kurnool will be the first Smart City and will have a new airport
• Vizag will get Metro Rail, Vizag-Chennai industrial Corridor, IIM, mega IT hub, LNG terminal, among others

Hyderabad: Pulling the curtains down on the uncertainty pertaining to the location of the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday announced that the new capital would be located in the fertile and largely agricultural region of Vijayawada-Guntur. Naidu termed it as “reflection of popular sentiment.”

In his two-hour speech, Naidu said, “Nearly 50 per cent of the representations received by the Sivaramakrishnan Committee favoured Vijayawada-Guntur region as the best location for the capital.”

The State Government, as resolved by the Cabinet, was of the opinion that the interests of the entire state and its balanced development could be best served by locating the capital city at a central place around Vijayawada. This would enable equal access to people from all regions of the state. Naidu said this would impel the much needed development of the entire state.

Though the main opposition YSRCP initially insisted on a debate on the location before the government makes an announcement, it finally welcomed the decision on the new capital. Leader of opposition Y S Jaganmohan Reddy said, I whole- heartedly welcome the decision.” The Krishna district apart from being centrally located and being well connected by road and rail services is dominated by the powerful and affluent Kamma community, an important support base of
the TDP.

To appease the people of Rayalaseema and North coastal regions which pitched for locating the capital city at Kurnool and Visakhapatnam, Naidu promised a metropolis that will rival Singapore.

Naidu said the government would go in for decentralised development of the state with three mega cities and 14 smart cities. He said the government proposes to go in for land pooling system to be worked out by a Cabinet sub-committee. He recalled how he had turned Hyderabad into a sort of Silicon Valley a decade ago. He said now he had an ambitious plan to transform AP into a bustling state and model it on the lines of Singapore.

The government has taken every care to come out with specific industrial and other developmental programmes, identified for each district beginning from North Coastal Andhra at one end to Kurnool at another. Naidu said Kurnool would be promoted as the first Smart city and would have a new airport, new Industrial city in Avuku, Connectivity to Hyderabad – Bangalore industrial corridor, Textile Clusters, Central Manufacturing Hub in Koilkuntla, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), Super Speciality Hospital like SVIMS, Solar and Wind Power Promotion, Livestock Research and Polytechnic centre, Seed Production Hub, Railway wagon repair Factory, Mining school , Food park , Tourism circuit connecting Temples and wildlife sanctuaries spread across the State.

In regard to North coastal area, he said Srikakulam would also be developed as a Smart City with Electronics and hardware and Industrial parks, Development of Bhavanapadu and Kalingapatnam ports, Establishment of School of Planning and Architecture, Completion of Irrigation projects on Vamsadhara- Nagavali, Promotion of Tourism centre. Vizianagaram Smart city, Greenfield Airport , Electronics and Hardware Park, Tribal university and Medical College. Visakhapatnam, he said, would get Metro Rail, Vizag – Chennai Industrial Corridor , Indian Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Mega IT Hub, Electronics Manufacturing Hub and LNG terminal, among others.