Amaravati, Oct 19 (IANS): Amaravati rises again today, said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday after formally re-launching the capital city works and setting a three-year deadline to complete them.
"Destiny has finally found its course. After five years of neglect and crushed hopes, Amaravati rises again today. Our people's capital will now be rebuilt -- brick by brick, heart by heart," Chandrababu Naidu posted on X after re-starting work on the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (AP-CRDA) head office.
"I congratulate my people of Andhra Pradesh as we reclaim our dream of a Capital City today -- especially our farmer sisters and brothers who kept our dream alive through their protests, and stood strong against every brutality unleashed. The work restarts today. Onward and upward!" he added.
The work on the G+7 building at Rayapudi was launched at a cost of Rs 160 crore in 2017 when Naidu was the chief minister.
After the YSR Congress Party came to power in 2019, the capital city works were stopped as the government announced its plans to build three state capitals – Visakhapatnam, Kurnool and Amaravati.
After returning as the chief minister in June this year following the landslide victory of the TDP-led NDA, he resumed work on his dream project.
Naidu has set a three-year deadline for completing the development of the greenfield capital city at an estimated cost of Rs 52,000 crore.
The Chief Minister also declared that Visakhapatnam will be developed as a financial hub while a High Court Bench will be established in Kurnool.
The TDP chief alleged that the previous government of YSRCP ruined Amaravati as part of its vindictive politics between 2019 and 2024.
He recalled that the TDP government had in 2014-19 pooled 34,241 acres of land from 29,881 farmers and acquired about 4,300 acres.
Nearly 15,167 acres of government land was provided for the capital project. He claimed that it was the largest land pool in the world. All the hard work done in that period had been wasted by the YSRCP government.
He claimed that investor confidence had been restored following the formation of the NDA government in the state and the World Bank and other lending agencies were coming forward again to lend the helping hand.
The Chief Minister said though he had been maintaining that Amaravati will be a self-finance project but the previous ruler spread the lies that it will cost Rs 1 lakh crore.
Stating that his Vision 2047 is for state development, he remarked that the '420s' can't understand his vision.