Naidu eyes ₹1 trillion boost for Amaravati soon

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu dropped a big promise on 11 March 2025—₹1 lakh crore in investments for Amaravati, the greenfield capital, with the foundation set to be laid within 45 days. Speaking at a university seminar, he said he’ll soon invite prime minister Narendra Modi to relaunch the city’s infrastructure push. “In one to one-and-a-half months, we’ll kick off projects worth ₹1 lakh crore, done in three years,” Naidu told the crowd, his voice carrying the weight of a man who’s seen this dream stall before.

The gears are already turning. Road works worth ₹40,000 crore are underway, alongside stalled buildings picking up pace. Naidu’s got a green vision—Amaravati running fully on renewable energy, a city not just rebuilt but reimagined. He’s wooing top institutions and private players to set up shop, pitching it as “world-class.” It’s a hustle born from necessity—five years of neglect under the last regime left the capital a ghost town, and now he’s racing to breathe life back into it.

But there’s more on his mind—population. Once a cheerleader for control, Naidu’s flipped the script, urging bigger families to fuel growth. “South India’s shrinking, North’s stable for just 20 more years,” he warned, pointing to Japan and Germany’s worker woes. His fix? ₹15,000 per kid via the Amma Vodi scheme—cash to nudge the fertility rate to 2.5. It’s a wild pivot, and it’s got people talking: can a city and a state rise together on this bet? The clock’s ticking.