Bill to Recognise Amaravati as Sole Capital of Andhra Introduced in Lok Sabha
New Delhi: A bill seeking to recognize Amaravati as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday; This initiative is one that will fulfill a vital wish of NDA’s key ally TDP and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The law will defeat any future proposal to change the decision to make Amaravati the sole and permanent capital, as the previous government of the state led by YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy did.
Union Home Minister Nityanand Rai moved the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha and Speaker Om Birla put it for vote and passed it after voice vote.
On March 28, the state legislature also passed a resolution requesting the Center to amend Chapter 5 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act to include the name “Amaravati” as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.
TDP chief Naidu, who was the first chief minister of bifurcated Andhra Pradesh between 2014 and 2019, had announced that Amaravati would be the capital of the state and invested heavily in its development. However, TDP lost power in the 2019 assembly elections and Reddy took over as chief minister.
During his tenure, Reddy reversed Naidu’s decision and announced that Andhra Pradesh would have three capitals instead of a single capital at Amaravati: administrative capital at Visakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati and judicial capital at Kurnool.
Naidu announced that Amaravati will be the sole capital of the state after returning to power in 2024. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, under which Telangana was created, recognizes Hyderabad as the capital of the new state, but no statement has been made as to where the capital of Andhra Pradesh will be.
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization (Amendment) Bill, 2026 proposed by the NDA government will strengthen Amaravati’s position as the single capital.
TDP is a key ally of the ruling NDA and provides vital support to the Narendra Modi government with 16 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
According to the bill doing the rounds among Lok Sabha members, the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 provide that from the appointed day, Hyderabad will be the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for a period not exceeding ten years.
From now on, Hyderabad will be the capital of Telangana and a new capital for its successor state of Andhra Pradesh.
The bill stated that after the enactment of the reorganization act, the Andhra Pradesh government “after due consideration, consultation and planning, has designated and notified ‘Amaravati’ as the new capital of this state.”
Once the Bill becomes an Act, Amravati will be legally recognized as the capital of Andhra Pradesh from June 2, 2024.
It was stated that with the aim of making Amaravati the capital of Andhra Pradesh, important administrative and legal measures have been taken, as well as infrastructure development in and around it.
He observed that on March 28, the state legislature passed a resolution requesting the Center to amend Article 5 of the Reorganization Act to include the name “Amaravati” as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.
To give effect to the decision of the state legislature and provide “legal clarity regarding the capital city” of AP, the bill proposes to amend subsection (2) of section 5 of the reorganization act to include the name “Amaravati” as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh with effect from June 2, 2024.
