Rajahmundry/Kakinada: Chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu is trying to have capital at a central location in the new state of Andhra Pradesh, minister for municipal administration P Narayana has said.
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, he said the population living between Anantapur and Prakasam districts is 2.15 crore and that between Guntur and Srikakulam 2.68 crore. The distance between Srikakulam and Guntur is 660 km and between Anatapur and Guntur 620 km.
About 25,000 acres of land will be needed for the future needs of the capital, he said. In Naya Raipur (Chhattisgarh)
and Gandhinagar (Gujarat) they used only 4,000 acres of land though they acquired 25,000 acres each.
He said the government was identifying lands for establishments of various institutions in Andhra Pradesh. The Union government has sanctioned 11 national-level institutions to the state and asked the government to identify lands.
On the directions of the chief minister they visited some places in Kakinada and Rajahmundry. Directions were issued to the collector to send the report on suitable lands by Wedesday evening. The report will be submitted to the Sivaramakrishnan Committee on Thursday.
The central government advised the state government to identify two or three sites for each institution. After the reports is sent, a committee from New Delhi tour the state and finalise the sites.
A petroleum university will come up in East Godavari district and an agriculture or central university in West Godavari district. Directorates and commissionerates will be established in districts and their main offices in the capital.
The Union government has allotted Rs 50,000 crore for urban development in the country.
The state government will conduct awareness meetings for mayors, municipal chairpersons and corporators in Visakhapatnam on August 4, in Vijayawada on August 5 and in Tirupati on August 6.