Amaravati confirmed as Andhra Pradesh’s only capital after Parliament passes landmark bill

India’s Parliament has granted statutory recognition to Amaravati as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh, bringing to a close more than a decade of administrative uncertainty that followed the bifurcation of the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2014. The Rajya Sabha passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, by a voice vote on April 2, a day after the Lok Sabha approved the legislation on April 1 by an identical procedure. The bill now awaits presidential assent before becoming law.

Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan announced the passage of the bill amid thumping of desks by members and stated that on behalf of the House and the people of the country, he congratulated Andhra Pradesh. Members of the National Democratic Alliance raised slogans in the upper house following the announcement. Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, who moved the bill in the Rajya Sabha, described the occasion as historic and expressed the wish that Andhra Pradesh would advance on the path of development. Seventeen members of Parliament from eleven political parties participated in the nearly three-hour debate in the Rajya Sabha.

The legislation amends Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, replacing the earlier open-ended provision for a new capital with the specific declaration that Amaravati shall be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. The amendment carries retrospective effect from June 2, 2024, which is the date on which the ten-year shared-capital arrangement between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over Hyderabad formally ended under the original 2014 framework. Once it receives presidential assent, Amaravati will carry legal recognition as the state capital from that date.

The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on March 28, 2026, requesting the Government of India to amend Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, to formally incorporate the name of Amaravati as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. That resolution enabled the introduction of the amendment bill in Parliament and formed the legislative foundation for the Centre’s action.

Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, who participated in the Rajya Sabha debate, sharply criticised the position taken by successive governments on the capital question. Naidu pointed to the confusion that had marked the issue and stated that it had become impossible to tell anyone where the capital of the state was. He accused the previous government, led by the YSR Congress Party, of irresponsibility in allowing the situation to persist and said the National Democratic Alliance government fully supported the reconstruction and development of Amaravati. Naidu saluted the contribution of the farming community and women of Amaravati who had sustained the movement for a single capital.

BJP member of Parliament K. Laxman stated that approximately 29,000 farmers had contributed approximately 33,000 acres of land under the land pooling scheme for the development of Amaravati as the capital city. He said a developed capital would help Andhra Pradesh fulfil its potential within the vision of a developed India. Congress member of Parliament Renuka Chowdhury from Telangana, who initiated the debate in the Rajya Sabha, extended the Congress party’s full support to the bill. Chowdhury described the prolonged delay in resolving the capital question as a matter of national shame and said it had taken twelve years for Parliament to address the issue through proper legislative procedure. She called the passage of the bill a victory for the farmers who had fought for years to protect their sacrifice.

In the Lok Sabha, where the bill was debated on April 1, BJP member C.M. Ramesh stated that this was the first instance in the history of independent India in which Parliament had enacted a law specifically to declare a particular place as the capital of a state. He said the legislation would ensure that no future government could alter the capital status of Amaravati, and that the state would now have a permanent seat of governance from which development could be planned and executed without further interruption. Ramesh condemned the previous state administration’s proposal to establish three separate capitals for Andhra Pradesh, describing it as illogical and irrational.

The YSR Congress Party took a dissenting position. YSRCP member P.V. Midhun Reddy stated in the Lok Sabha that the party was not opposed to Amaravati as such but opposed the bill in its present form on the grounds that it did not adequately protect the interests of the farmers whose land had been acquired for the capital project. He said that 34,000 acres had been taken from farmers under assurances including free developed plots, housing scheme benefits, and educational provisions for affected families, and that none of those commitments had been fulfilled. Reddy demanded that a specific timeline for delivering those benefits be incorporated in the legislation before passage. YSRCP members staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha during the debate. In the Rajya Sabha, YSRCP member Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy questioned the legal definition of capital used in the bill and opposed the legislation in its current form.

TDP leader and Union Minister Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said the people of Andhra Pradesh were eagerly awaiting the statutory recognition of Amaravati and highlighted the contribution of women from the farming communities of the capital region. BJP member Daggubati Purandeswari recalled that the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 had left the residual state without a capital, an assembly, a secretariat, or an administrative ecosystem, making it what she described as probably the first instance in India’s history in which a residual state had been left with no capital at all. She said Amaravati would be remembered as the first capital in Indian history built not through coercion but through the voluntary belief and sacrifice of its farming community. Congress member Manickam Tagore supported the bill while calling for Andhra Pradesh to be accorded special category status as the successor state of the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party member Dharmendra Yadav supported the bill while noting that developing an existing city such as Visakhapatnam as the capital would have avoided the need for large-scale land acquisition and reduced the financial burden on the state. Bharat Rashtra Samithi member Ravichandra from Telangana used the Rajya Sabha debate to raise a separate demand that five villages in the Bhadrachalam area be returned to Telangana, a matter he said remained unresolved from the 2014 bifurcation. Congress member R. Raghuram Reddy from Telangana similarly raised concerns about unfulfilled commitments made to Telangana under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu welcomed the passage of the bill in both houses of Parliament, calling it a historic and defining moment for the state. Writing on the social media platform X, Naidu stated that the unanimous passage of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in both houses reflected the collective will and aspirations of the people of Andhra Pradesh at the national level. He said that after bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh had faced many challenges and uncertainties without a confirmed capital, and that it was the sacrifice and resilience of the farmers of Amaravati that had kept the aspiration alive. Naidu said the decision marked a new era of stability, confidence, and progress for every citizen of Andhra Pradesh and described Amaravati as unstoppable.

How did Andhra Pradesh’s capital question remain unresolved for more than a decade after bifurcation?

The origin of Andhra Pradesh’s capital uncertainty lies in the political and legislative conditions that accompanied the state’s creation in 2014. When Parliament passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act on February 8, 2014, bifurcating the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh to create the new state of Telangana, the legislation designated Hyderabad as the common capital for both states for a period not exceeding ten years. The Act provided only that Andhra Pradesh would establish a new capital but did not name or designate one, leaving that determination to the state government.

In the years following bifurcation, the government of Andhra Pradesh, then led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and the Telugu Desam Party, identified Amaravati on the banks of the Krishna River in Guntur district as the site for the new greenfield capital. A land pooling scheme was implemented under which farmers in the designated area voluntarily contributed their agricultural land to the state in exchange for promised returns including developed plots, housing, and other benefits. Approximately 29,000 farmers contributed approximately 33,000 acres under this arrangement. International design firms were engaged, foundation-laying ceremonies were conducted, and substantial infrastructure planning was undertaken between 2015 and 2019.

The political landscape in Andhra Pradesh changed dramatically following the 2019 state assembly elections, in which the YSR Congress Party under Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy defeated the Telugu Desam Party by a large margin. The new government, which took office in June 2019, departed from the single-capital model and proposed the establishment of three separate functional capitals for Andhra Pradesh: Amaravati as the legislative capital, Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, and Kurnool as the judicial capital. The three-capital proposal was embedded in the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020.

The three-capital proposal triggered sustained and large-scale protests in Amaravati, led principally by the farming communities that had contributed land under the pooling scheme and who feared that any shift of capital functions away from Amaravati would undermine the value and purpose of their sacrifice. Farmers and women from the Amaravati region conducted demonstrations that Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu described in Parliament as having lasted more than 1,600 days. The proposal also generated prolonged legal proceedings before the Andhra Pradesh High Court and eventually the Supreme Court of India, with courts issuing various orders and directions on the capital question. The three-capital legislation was subsequently challenged and the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the relevant law in March 2022.

The capital question remained contested and unresolved throughout the YSRCP government’s term from 2019 to 2024. The ten-year transitional period for Hyderabad as shared capital under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, expired on June 2, 2024, at which point Hyderabad formally became the exclusive capital of Telangana under the statutory framework. Andhra Pradesh was left without a legally designated capital in central legislation, even though Amaravati had been identified and partially developed by the state government.

What is the legal significance of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Amendment Bill 2026 and its retrospective effect from June 2024?

The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, carries two distinct legal dimensions. First, it brings Amaravati into the statutory text of central legislation for the first time, amending sub-section (2) of Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, so that the Act now specifies Amaravati by name rather than referring only to a new capital to be determined. This gives Amaravati’s status as capital a legal foundation in Parliament-enacted law rather than solely in state government notifications or decisions.

Second, the amendment provides that this recognition takes effect from June 2, 2024. This retrospective date is significant because it coincides with the formal expiry of Hyderabad’s role as shared capital. By anchoring Amaravati’s statutory status to that date, the amendment eliminates any gap in legal continuity between the end of Hyderabad’s shared status and the confirmation of Amaravati. BJP member C.M. Ramesh stated in the Lok Sabha debate that the legislation would prevent any future government from altering the capital status of Andhra Pradesh without going through an equivalent parliamentary process, given that the designation now exists in central law rather than only in state executive decisions.

The legislation was described in Parliament as the first instance of Parliament enacting a law to specifically designate a particular city as the capital of a state, distinguishing it from constitutional provisions that designate capitals of union territories or from state-level administrative orders. The procedural sequence that preceded the bill’s introduction, including the unanimous resolution of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on March 28, 2026, requesting the Centre to amend the Reorganisation Act, ensured that the legislative process had a formal state government mandate.

Why did the YSR Congress Party oppose the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Amendment Bill 2026 despite supporting Amaravati as the capital location?

The YSR Congress Party’s objection to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was framed not as opposition to Amaravati itself but as opposition to the bill’s failure to protect the interests of the farmers who contributed land under the pooling scheme. YSRCP member P.V. Midhun Reddy stated in the Lok Sabha that thousands of farming families had surrendered their agricultural land on specific assurances from the state government, including the provision of developed residential and commercial plots, housing scheme benefits, and educational provisions for children of affected families. He stated that none of these commitments had been honoured and that incorporating Amaravati’s name into law without addressing these outstanding obligations had no practical purpose for the affected communities.

Reddy also questioned where the state government intended to source the substantial funds required to construct a greenfield capital of the scale originally planned for Amaravati. He demanded that the bill be amended to include a specific and binding timeline for the delivery of promised benefits to farmers before it was passed. The YSRCP position acknowledged that Amaravati as a capital location was not in dispute but maintained that statutory recognition without accompanying obligations or enforcement mechanisms for farmer welfare was insufficient. YSRCP members walked out of the Lok Sabha during the vote, and the party’s member in the Rajya Sabha also opposed the bill in its present form, questioning the legal basis of the capital designation.

What does the passage of the Amaravati capital bill mean for infrastructure development and investor confidence in Andhra Pradesh?

The statutory recognition of Amaravati as Andhra Pradesh’s capital is expected to provide the administrative and legal certainty that infrastructure developers, institutional investors, and central government agencies have cited as a prerequisite for long-term commitment to projects in the capital region. The uncertainty over the capital’s status between 2019 and 2024 had contributed to delays in both private investment and the release of central government funds for infrastructure in the capital area. With the designation now embedded in central legislation, state and central agencies can proceed with development planning for Amaravati on a basis that cannot be reversed by a change of state government without a new parliamentary process.

The Andhra Pradesh government under Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has positioned Amaravati as a greenfield capital intended to become a world-class administrative and economic hub, with original master plans envisioning a planned city on the banks of the Krishna River incorporating government districts, commercial zones, and residential areas. The original land pooling scheme that brought approximately 33,000 acres into the capital project was designed to align farmer interests with the city’s development, with farmers expected to receive developed land back in proportion to what they contributed. The resolution of the capital question through parliamentary legislation is intended to enable the resumption of master planning and construction work on a definitive and funded basis.

Congress member Manickam Tagore, while supporting the bill in the Lok Sabha, expressed the view that Amaravati should be developed to a standard comparable to cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad, and that other cities in Andhra Pradesh including Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, and Kurnool should also receive investment attention. The broader question of Andhra Pradesh’s request for special category status, which would entitle the state to a higher share of central government grants, was raised by multiple members across parties during both days of parliamentary debate, reflecting the view that statutory capital recognition alone is insufficient to address the state’s development deficit arising from the conditions of bifurcation in 2014.

Key takeaways on what the Amaravati capital bill means for Andhra Pradesh, Parliament, and the affected farming communities

• Parliament passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, through voice votes in both the Lok Sabha on April 1 and the Rajya Sabha on April 2, granting Amaravati statutory recognition as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh with retrospective effect from June 2, 2024.
• The amendment replaces the vague provision in Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, for an unspecified new capital with an explicit designation of Amaravati, making this the first instance of Parliament enacting legislation to name a city as the capital of an Indian state.
• The legislation received support from the National Democratic Alliance, the Indian National Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and other parties, while the YSR Congress Party opposed it and staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha, demanding enforceable farmer welfare provisions before passage.
• Approximately 29,000 farmers who contributed approximately 33,000 acres of agricultural land under the Amaravati land pooling scheme remain at the centre of a policy debate over the fulfilment of promised compensation, developed plots, and housing benefits, with YSRCP members stating that none of those commitments have been delivered since land was surrendered.
• The statutory designation is expected to provide legal finality that will enable large-scale infrastructure development in Amaravati and is likely to support renewed central government funding and private investment in the greenfield capital city, with the question of Andhra Pradesh’s special category status remaining a separate ongoing demand raised by multiple parties in both houses.