Vijayawada: After more than five years of uncertainty, works on Andhra Pradesh‘s greenfield capital city, Amaravati, are set to take off on Friday afternoon with Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally flagging off key infrastructure projects.
Incidentally, it was Modi who had inaugurated the capital city works post bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh a decade ago. The change in govt in 2019 assembly polls had led to a sudden halt of Amaravati works with the then YSRCP govt deciding to create three capital cities with the main administrative seat located at Visakhapatnam, making Amaravati a mere legislative capital.
Hopes on Amaravati revived after the 2024 assembly polls with the Naidu govt deciding to relaunch the capital city project. The PM will kick-start more than Rs 49,000 crore worth of projects, which will be started simultaneously.
Also, the PM will lay the foundation for nine central projects worth Rs 5,028 crore, such as DRDO’s missile testing centre (Rs 1,459 crore) at Nagayalanka in Krishna district, unity mall in Vizag (Rs 100 crore), Guntakal-Mallappa Gate Rail overbridge (Rs 293 crore) and six national highway projects (Rs 3,680 crore).
The missile testing centre will house a launch centre, technical instrumentation facilities, indigenous radars, telemetry and electro-optical systems, enhancing the country’s defence preparedness.
“In one of the largest single-day infrastructure announcements for the state, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation for and inaugurate a total of 94 projects worth Rs 57,962 crore,” said a press release from the CMO on Thursday.
A total of 8,603 sq km was notified as the capital region, with 217 sq km allocated for the capital city and 16.9 sq km designated as the core capital area.
After coming to power nearly a year ago, the TDP-led government injected new life into the abandoned greenfield capital. The construction work is expected to gather full steam by December.
According to the official schedule, Modi will arrive in Amaravati by 3:15 pm and proceed to the meeting venue by 3:30 pm.
Arrangements have been made to accommodate five lakh people at the meeting venue in Amaravati. Modi will participate in a roadshow after landing in Amaravati.