Hyderabad: After a series of deliberations, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has decided to name the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh state as Amaravathi.

Naidu was likely to announce the decision on Ugadi day at Tullur in Guntur district  on March 21, however he did not do so.

The state government was planning to name a new capital between Guntur and Vijayawada.

Nearly 33,000 acres of land has been procured by Naidu government to build the new capital.

The area to build the new capital is spread over 29 villages in Thulluru, Mangalagiri and Tadikonda mandals of Guntur district.

Singapore-based firms are preparing the master plan for the capital. The construction is likely to begin in the second half of 2015.

The draft master plan shows the green field capital city over 374 square kms and the metropolitan region in 7,068 sq kms with a projected population of 3,741.3 crore by 2050. The anticipated work force is six million (incremental 3.5 million) with a projected investment of $30 billion in the next decade.

The draft master plan indicates Nandigama as the would-be pharmaceutical hub, Nuzvid as a fabrication hub.

Last week, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had lashed out at the Modi government for not fulfilling the ‘needs’ of the people of Andhra Pradesh.  

“Andhra Pradesh should also have a grand capital but nothing substantial has been provided,” she had said. Naidu is also scheduled to visit Singapore on March 29.