Vizag as Executive Capital on hold; Amaravati remains the capital of AP for now

During the Question Hour session of the Rajya Sabha on 2 February 2022, Member of Rajya Sabha (MP), and BJP leader, GVL Narasimha Rao asked about the confusion that is pondering over the capital of Andhra Pradesh(AP). The MP also asked, “What is the capital of Andhra Pradesh as of today and who has the authority to decide on the capital issue”. In response to this, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, answered that Amaravati remains the capital city of Andhra Pradesh for now, until a proper review. Additionally, the Minister also said that the state government has the right to take a decision on creating a capital city.  Does this mean Vizag as Executive Capital of Andhra Pradesh, is on hold?

On 23 April 2015, the Andhra Pradesh State Government had declared Amaravati as its capital. As time progressed, in July 2020 the AP State notified three capital cities; Amaravati, Visakhapatnam, and Kurnool. For this YS Jagan Mohan Reddy led State Government introduced a bill, in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, proposing these three capitals for the state.  On 22 November 2021, the AP State Government surprisingly revoked the three capital bill.  Vizag as Executive Capital and Kurnool as the Judicial Capital are on hold, while Amaravati will continue to be the only capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Apart from this, Rajya Sabha MP, and the National General Secretary of YSR Congress Party, V. Vijaysai Reddy, asked if the Central Government can speed up the division of assets, worth Rs 1,42,601 crore, listed under the scheduled 9 and 10 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. To this, Minister Rai replied that the division of assets between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, can be speedily undertaken with mutual agreement and the Centre can only act as a coordinating agency. There are institutions listed under Schedule 9 of the AP Reorganisation Act, for which a committee was formed.