Under the land-pooling scheme, farmers from 29 villages contributed approximately 34,000 acres during Naidu’s tenure as chief minister.
The relaunch of construction works for Amaravati marks an emotional milestone for over 30,000 farmers who surrendered their lands for the capital city under a land pooling scheme implemented by N Chandrababu Naidu’s government between 2014 and 2019.
During the YSRCP’s tenure from 2019 to 2024, these farmers waged a relentless campaign against the government’s plan to relocate the capital. The YSRCP had proposed a decentralized development model with three capitals, abandoning the vision of a single grand capital of the then TDP government.
Despite this setback, the farmers’ protest camp continued uninterrupted for nearly six years, demonstrating extraordinary determination.
“For three generations my family has lived in this region. I expanded my initial 3 acres to 20 acres and surrendered all of it to the government in 2015 for Amaravati with tremendous hope and expectations. Everything turned upside down after YSRCP came to power in 2019. For five years I suffered sleepless nights worrying about our future. But we never lost hope, believing justice would prevail. Now, I’m overjoyed that Modi is relaunching Amaravati,” said an emotional 70-year-old Aluru Kotayya from Mandadam village in Tullur mandal. Kotayya was among many farmers who participated in Friday’s Amaravati relaunch program.
Under the land-pooling scheme, farmers from 29 villages contributed approximately 34,000 acres during Naidu’s tenure as chief minister. In exchange, they were promised 800 to 1,200 square yards of residential land and 100 to 450 square yards of commercial land in layouts developed by the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), complete with modern amenities.
The farmers feared that if the executive branch moved to Vizag as part of Jagan’s three-capital plan—executive in Vizag, judiciary in Kurnool, and legislature in Amaravati—the value of their allocated sites would plummet.
After Hyderabad was assigned to Telangana following the 2014 state bifurcation, Naidu developed this innovative land pooling scheme to create a greenfield capital for Andhra Pradesh. During his previous five-year term, he named it Amaravati, a name that resonated throughout the country. With his reputation as a “CEO CM” who had successfully built Cyberabad—now one of India’s premier IT hubs—Amaravati gained national attention between 2014 and 2019. This momentum shifted in 2019 when Jagan became Chief Minister with different priorities.
