Hyderabad: After five hours of discussions, the AP Cabinet on Monday decided to build the new capital around Vijayawada city. The Cabinet brushed aside the Sivaramakrishnan committee report, which was submitted to the Centre two days back.
AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will announce the decision in the Assembly on Tuesday, following which the government will convey its decision to the Centre. Mr Naidu said he would develop three mega cities and other small cities around the capital.
According to sources, Mr Naidu had allowed ministers to tell the media off the record that the capital would come up around Vijayawada. However, some ministers said the capital was likely to come up between Vijayawada and Guntur, as had been announced previously by Mr Naidu, while a few located it at Nuzivid.
The Cabinet decided to constitute a sub-committee for pooling land for the construction of the capital and also to negotiate with farmers to acquire the land. The Cabinet decided to acquire the land at a ratio of 60:40.
The sub-committee comprises Mr Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Mr P. Narayana, Mr K. Atchennaidu, Mr Prattipati Pulla Rao and Mr Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao. Deputy Chief Minister K.E. Krishna Murthy apparently expressed his unwillingness to be part of the sub committee.
Earlier the ministers had opined that it would be better to take a final decision on the capital to end unnecessary speculation. On the decentralisation of administration, ministers said that it would not be possible to establish the various directorates in different districts in the state. They said department secretaries and heads of the departments should be in one place, at the state capital, to run the administration smoothly.
