Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday announced that Visakhapatnam will be the new capital of the state. He also indicated plans to develop Amaravati on the banks of the Krishna River as the capital city have been scrapped.
The announcement of a new capital for Andhra comes nine years after the state of Telangana was carved out of its territory and given Hyderabad as its capital.
At an event in Delhi the YSR Congress chief said: "... I invite you to Visakhapatnam, which is going to be our capital in the days to come. I myself will also be shifting to Visakhapatnam in the months to come."
"We're organising a global summit... an investors summit on March 3-4 (in Visakhapatnam) (and I want) to take this opportunity to personally invite all of you to the summit... and request all of you to not only come but also put in a good word, a strong word, to colleagues abroad," the chief minister said.
At the International Diplomatic Alliance meet in Delhi he urged investors to 'visit us and see... how easy it is to do business in the state of Andhra Pradesh'.
The identity of a new capital for Andhra Pradesh - for which over 33,000 acres of land had been acquired from farmers around Amaravati - has been the source of social, legal, economic and political friction over the past several years.
