The capital of Andhra Pradesh should be ideally located in a place having a stretch of at least 50,000 acres of government land, former Rajya Sabha member and YSRC Central Governing Council member M.V. Mysura Reddy said on Thursday.
The State Reorganisation Bill stipulated acquisition of government and forest land without any hassles, which would not entail any financial commitment, he said at a media conference held at YSR Memorial Press Club here. The Centre did not bear the cost of building the respective capitals when three States-- Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand-- were formed, he pointed out.
Acquisition of private land would burden the State exchequer, he said, adding that he had included his suggestions pertaining to setting up the State capital in letters sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Sivaramakrishnan Committee.
Nearly 70 per cent of the 50,000 acres of land can be used by the government for its utilities, facilities and developing infrastructure like buildings, roads and drainage , Dr. Reddysaid.
The remaining 30 per cent of land can be used for purposes like setting up educational institutions, commercial and residential complexes by imposing development fees of Rs. 1,000 per square yard, he suggested, adding that this nominal fee could fetch revenue ranging from Rs. 6,000 crore to Rs. 10,000 crore to the Government, which could be utilised for developing infrastructure.
“It is challenging to develop a capital for the new State and it should be done with utmost care and prudence,” he said.
