Chief Minister of AP announced Vijayawada region as the new capital of AP

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on 4 September 2014 formally announced that the new capital of Andhra Pradesh would be located around Vijayawada. Vijayawada is located at the centre of the Andhra Pradesh.

The decision was taken on 1 September 2014 in the State's Cabinet meeting which suggested for the decentralised development of the state with three mega cities and 14 smart cities. This would enable equal access to people from all regions of the state.

Andhra Pradesh will share capital Hyderabad with Telangana for 10 years, after which it's capital will be around Vijayawada. The land for the capital would be acquired through pooling system to be worked out by a cabinet sub-committee.

The decision made by Naidu bypassed the Sivaramakrishnan Committee's recommendation that opposed Vijayawada-Guntur region as the best location for the capital area. The Sivaramakrishnan Committee was against the Vijayawada region due to high land prices and agricultural land.

The committee strongly was of the view that locating several governmental offices within the Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri (VGTM) urban area is both unfeasible for financial reasons and undesirable for decentralized development.

Other Decisions taken at State's Cabinet meeting
•    Visakhapatnam, the biggest city in AP and one of the leading contenders for the capital, would be transformed into a mega city.
•    A new international airport to be built at Visakhapatnam to attract information technology firms, start-ups and the film industry.
•    Three metro rail projects have been proposed at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati.

Background
After the victory of Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in assembly elections in April-May 2014, the Vijayawada- Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri (VGTM) region was widely expected to be named the new capital of AP.

After this fuelled speculations, the land prices around  Vijayawada  region have skyrocketed to as much as 10 crore rupees per acre from about  50 lakh rupees per acre in a few months.

Vijayawada
•    Vijayawada is the biggest town in Krishna district.
•    Vijayawada got its name from the Vijaya Kanaka Durga temple in the city.
•    Vijayawada has evolved as a trading town and has given rise to several wealthy families due to its central location and the presence of a mercantile community.