In what could gladden the hearts of Seemandhra people, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said that the new capital for Seemandhra would be announced in September.
Speaking to newsmen here on Wednesday, the Minister said an experts’ committee which would be constituted in a few days would decide on the capital by September. “There are a large number of claimants for the new capital. The committee will decide after examining the pros and cons of the claims of all those cities in the fray,” he pointed out. He said cities like Vijayawada, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Rajahmundry, Ongole and others were in the contention for the new capital.
Mr. Ramesh said the Centre wanted to ensure a ‘strong Seemandhra’ and had put in place a roadmap in the form of a special category status and by announcing tax incentives and special development package.
The Centre would allot Rs. 50,000 crore to Seemandhra in the next five years, he said and added that Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor would be developed on the lines of the one between Delhi and Chennai at an investment of over Rs. 1,50,000 crore in the next 15 years.
Taking umbrage to TRS remarks, he said: “I am not an agent of a particular region. I am an agent of Telugu people.” Allaying fears of students, he said an IIT, NIT, IIM, IIIT, Central university and an agriculture university would come up in the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh.
