Porni Banerjee | ১২ জুলাই ২০২৪ ১৭ : ১১Porni Banerjee

Among 28 states in India, Andhra Pradesh is the only state that is functioning without a capital city.

This unique situation is the result of political and administrative actions after Andhra Pradesh bifurcated from Telangana in 2014, creating the latter as a new state.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had its common capital of Hyderabad for a period of ten years. However, the administration chose to move away following the separation of the two states and function out of a temporary set-up at Velagapudi, till their capital was built.

The deadline for sharing Hyderabad as the capital of Andhra Pradesh ended on June 2, 2024. Since then, Andhra Pradesh has been left with no capital city.

A state’s capital city plays a significant role in serving as the administrative hub and housing the primary government institutions such as the legislature, executive offices and judiciary. It is also the centre of various cultural, political and economic activities.

As far as Amravathi is concerned, it was named as the capital of Andhra Pradesh, following its bifurcation by the then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. In 2015, he estimated that Rs 51,000 crore would be required to build a “world class futuristic and smart capital” for the state, for which he even hired Singapore-based firms to develop the city and acquired 33,000 acres of land from farmers.

However, Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) lost the election and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy"s YSRCP came to power. The latter, eventually stalled all the planned projects and reduced the budget for building the city. This resulted in the exit of the firms and no capita; city was declared thereafter.