Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu spoke to the media after important meetings with Union Ministers in Delhi. He said that since it has been 10 years since Andhra Pradesh was divided, he asked the central government to officially declare Amaravati as the state capital by including it in the Reorganisation Act. He also raised many important issues about Andhra Pradesh’s overall development with the Union Ministers.
Chandrababu Naidu said that from 2019 to 2024, the state faced heavy damage under the YSR Congress Party rule. He believes it will take at least 10 years to recover from these losses. He reminded that his party promised to rebuild the state if they came to power and said his government is working hard to achieve this. He also said the previous government left unpaid bills worth about ₹1.20 lakh crore. On a positive note, he mentioned that Andhra Pradesh has attracted the highest investments this year.
Talking about energy, Chandrababu said the state submitted many plans to the central government. Under the ‘PM Surya Ghar’ scheme, they plan to provide solar electricity to 3.5 million homes, with about 10,000 homes in each area. He asked the central government for full support. He also said his government introduced a clean energy policy aiming to generate 72 gigawatts of green energy. He requested Union Power Minister Pralhad Joshi to approve ₹28,346 crore for the Green Energy Corridor, and the minister agreed.
Chandrababu said the central government approved 2,000 megawatts of electricity generation under the KUSUM scheme. He is confident that Andhra Pradesh will soon become a Green Energy Hub, and 24-hour power supply will be available through green energy.
On defence, he described a good meeting with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and congratulated him on the success of “Operation Sindoor.” Chandrababu said several proposals were made to promote defence manufacturing in the state, including missile and ammunition centres, aircraft manufacturing, naval testing centres, and drone production units in different clusters.
He also proposed a Centre of Excellence under DRDO at IIT Tirupati. Rajnath Singh positively responded to these plans and promised to consider establishing a military cantonment in Andhra Pradesh.
Regarding irrigation, Chandrababu said the Polavaram-Banakacharla project will cost about ₹80,000 crore. This project will divert 200 TMC feet of water to Rayalaseema, which currently goes to the sea. He assured that this will not cause problems for neighbouring states. The project will start after central approval, and he has asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to release the funds.
