Presenting her seventh straight budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said Andhra Pradesh will get support of Rs 15,000 crore to develop its capital. TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, is a key ally of the BJP, which is dependent on NDA constituents this time to reach the majority mark.
The announcement meets a key demand of the state government, which had, in the pre-budget meeting, sought a grant of Rs 15,000 crore for the construction and development of Amaravati as the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh.
Presenting the budget, Ms Sitharaman said the Centre recognises Andhra Pradesh’s need for a capital and will facilitate support through multi-lateral development agencies
“Government to arrange Rs 15,000 crore this fiscal and in future years for the development of capital city of Andhra Pradesh,” she said.
After Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated into the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014, Hyderabad was announced as the common capital of the states for 10 years under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. On June 2 this year, the city ceased to be the capital of Andhra Pradesh.