Amaravati

Amaravati is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is situated in Guntur district at the heart of the state, on the right bank of the river Krishna and south west of Vijayawada. It is named after the historic Amaravathi site adjacent to Dharanikota, the ancient city, that served as the capital of the Satavahana dynasty more than 2,200 years ago. The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region encompasses the neighboring cities of Guntur, and Vijayawada.

The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 resulted in the residual state having no capital city, with Hyderabad serving as the state's temporary capital city despite being located in the new state of Telangana. The government under the leadership of N. Chandrababu Naidu founded Amaravati and declared it as Andhra Pradesh state's new capital city. The farmers of Guntur district gave 33,000 acres of land, to the Government of Andhra Pradesh through an innovative land pooling scheme in return for developed plots and lease payments for 10-year period. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone at Uddandarayunipalem village on 22 October 2015. After fast track completion of interim buildings, government legislature and secretariat started operating from the new facilities at Velagapudi from March 2017.

Amaravati is an urban notified area. Urban development and planning activities are undertaken by the Amaravati Development Corporation Limited and Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA). The APCRDA has jurisdiction over the city and the conurbation covering Andhra Pradesh Capital Region. The capital city is spread over an area of 217.23 km2, and will comprise villages (including some hamlets) from three mandals viz., Mangalagiri, Thullur and Tadepalle. The seed capital is spread over an area of 16.94 km2.

Etymology
Amaravati literally translates to 'the place for immortals'. The name has significance from historical, spiritual and mythological points of view. This name was also used in 18th century  for a village near Dharanikota, the ancient capital of the Satavahana dynasty.

History


Dharanikota (Dhānyakatakam) nearby was the capital city  of the Satavahana Dynasty of the (Andhras. Its history dates back to 2nd Century BCE. The Satavahanas are prominent in the history of Andhra Pradesh. Their main language was Prakrit written using Brahmi Script, which served as the base for the script of Telugu Language. The practice of Buddhism was predominant at that time and the dynasty was partly responsible for the prevalence of Buddhism in the region. The city was also once a holy site of Mahayana Buddhism. The city used to have a large Buddhist Stupa now known as Amaravati Stupa. It was also the centre of Buddhist learning and art with several Buddhist followers from many South East Asian countries visiting.

After Satavahanas, Ikshvakus, Vishnukundina, Pallavas, Cholas, Kakatiyas, Delhi Sultanate, Musunuri Nayaks, Bahmani Sultanate, Vijayanagara Empire, Sultanate of Golconda and Mughal Empire successively ruled this area before the founding of the Nizamate of Hyderabad in 1724. It was ceded to France in 1750 but was captured by the East India Company in 1759. It was returned to the Nizam in 1768 but was ceded to Britain again in 1788. As part of the Madras Presidency, it was ruled by Vasireddy Venkatadri Nayudu, hereditary zamindar of Chintapalli who founded the modern Amaravati village, near the ruins of the ancient stupa.

As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad became the capital of the newly formed state of Telangana, post bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

The K C Sivaramakrishnan committee recommended one major administrative city and several other cities focused on investment, technology and industry. The new capital is named Amaravati in view of historical, spiritual and mythological significance, by N. Chandrababu Naidu. In an innovative way, farmers of the region parted with their lands for the capital, in lieu of payment of lease for a period of 10 years and allotment of developed plots.

Geography
The city is in Guntur district at the heart of the state, on the banks of the Krishna River located at 10 km south-west of Vijayawada, 16 km north of Guntur, 45 km south-east of Tenali. The city has an area of 217.23 km2 and is spread across 25 villages in 3 mandals (Thullur, Mangalagiri and Tadepalli) of Guntur district. The 25 villages in the Capital City area have about 1 lakh population in about 27,000 households. The AP capital region is spread over Guntur, Palnadu, NTR, and Krishna districts and includes Guntur, Vijayawada and Tenali cities several towns and villages. During winter months, the temperature is between 12 °C and 30 °C. During summer, the temperature is between 17 °C to 45 °C. Climate is very humid in summer with humidity rising up to 68%.

Language and religion
Telugu is spoken by the majority of the population. Hinduism is the religion of the majority. There are significant Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist communities as well.

Settlements
The table below lists the identified villages and hamlets under their respective mandals, which became a part of the capital city.

Notes:
 * M – municipality
 * The names in brackets are the hamlet villages of the respective settlement.

The administration successfully hosted the inaugural Happy Cities Summit in Amaravati in April 2018. The summit saw the participation of 1,500+ delegates from 15+ countries, including eminent city leaders and urban experts.

Planning


Amaravati is planned to be the people-centric pioneer Smart City of India, built around sustainability and livability principles, and to be the happiest city in the world. Among the innovative features on the drawing board are navigation canals around the city, connecting to an island in the Krishna river. The Government envisaged an investment need of US$2–4 billion for the development of the city.

Criticism that the city would require enormous amounts of energy and resources and would destroy precious natural environments and local livelihoods were raised and alternate plans were proposed.

The city is planned to have 51% green space and 10% of water bodies. It is being modeled on Singapore, with the master plan being prepared by two Singapore government-appointed consultants.

The city construction had a budget of ₹ 553.43 billions out of which state government contribution is only ₹ 126 billion. Government raised money through bonds. The contribution from the government is to be repaid by the CRDA after 2037. Ultimately state or union governments are not incurring any expenditure to construct the city but wholly financed by the income accrued from the sale of land for various development schemes (₹ 171.51 billion), loans and the local taxes (₹ 146.41 billion by 2037) to the CRDA. The state and union governments are expected to earn ₹ 120 billion per annum out of which state goods and services tax (State GST) alone is ₹ 60 billion per annum. The entire city construction is planned by self-financing from loans and land selling with the state government's moral support. CRDA is expecting a net surplus income of ₹ 333 billion by 2037 after meeting the total expenditure on the city. Amaravati government complex which is intended to provide world-class facilities needed for the state government. The bus rapid transit system (BRTS) in Amaravati to connect with the adjacent Vijayawada and Guntur cities by world-class road network is also part of the CRDA project. Both Amaravati government complex and BRTS are planned with an expenditure of ₹ 140 billion.

Nine themed cities consisting of finance, justice, health, sports, media, and Electronics were planned. Several business groups and institutions like Reliance Group, NRDC-India. Pi Data Centre, HCL Technologies, and BRS Medicity proposed to invest in the city.

The government explored other means of mass transport like ‘monorail’, Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and tramways. Two new depots, North and South depots of the APSRTC are proposed to be constructed. A proposed Amaravati high-speed circular railway line would connect the city with the nearby cities of Vijayawada, Guntur and Tenali, extending up to a length of 105 km with an estimated cost of inr 100000000000. A metro rail project is proposed between the cities of Tenali, Guntur, and Vijayawada with 100 km circular corridor.

Construction
The state government originally engaged the Singapore-based Ascendas-Singbridge and Sembcorp Development consortium for the city's construction. The city's infrastructure was to be developed in 7–8 years in phases, at an estimated cost of ₹33,000 crore. ₹7,500 crore from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), $500 million from the World Bank and ₹2,500 crore from the Indian Government, of which ₹1,500 crore has been granted. With the change of priorities for the government that came into power in 2019, the Amaravati project has substantially slowed, with no completion deadline in sight.

Economy
The agrarian economy is transformed into an urban economy with the formation of capital city.

Education
National Institute of Design, SRM University, Andhra Pradesh, Vellore Institute of Technology, Andhra Pradesh, Amrita University, Amity University and the Indo-UK Institute of Health (IUIH) in collaboration with the King's College London, are among others to set up campus in Amaravati. In 2018, the city's first management institute, Xavier School of Management, was under construction near Ainavolu.

Tourism
Nearby religious sites include the Amaralingeswara Swamy Temple, and the Amaravati stupa in the Amaravati heritage complex, Dhyana Buddha statue and Undavalli Caves.

Roads
The Amaravati seed capital road is an arterial road under construction to access the core capital area from NH16. The Vijayawada-Amaravati road connects the city with Vijayawada. NH544D connects Anantapur-Guntur instead of the earlier proposed The Amaravati–Anantapur Expressway. Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) operates buses connecting the city with Vijayawada, Guntur, and Tenali. Auto rickshaws also operate for shorter distances in the capital city area.

Railways
The nearest railway stations are Krishna Canal at Tadepalli and Guntur,Vijayawada. However, there are plans to construct an Errupalem–Amaravathi–Nambur railway line which connects Amaravati with Guntur–Krishna Canal section there by connecting with other parts of the state andcountry.

Air
Vijayawada International Airport serves the whole Andhra Pradesh Capital Region.

F1H2O Grand Prix of India
From 16 to 18 November in 2018, Amaravati hosted the second F1H2O World championship Grand Prix ever held in India. The event brought wide media attention especially after one of the teams took the color and the name of the state, making it the first Indian branded team in the history of F1H2O.

In popular culture
Rajadhani Files, Telugu movie was inspired by the events around Amaravati.