Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh announced that ‘Visakhapatnam’ will be the new capital of the state.

• Visakhapatnam is a coastal city, often called “The Jewel of the East Coast” located on the east coast of India.
• The city was named ‘Visakhapatnam’ after the god of Valour – Vishakha.
• The port city hosts one of the major ports in India.
• It is also home to the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.
• Historically, the city was part of several kingdoms such as Kalinga, Vengi, Pallava, Chola and Vijayanagara.

• Capital of AP – Andhra Pradesh was bifurcation in 2014 into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• The former state capital, Hyderabad, became part of Telangana, but would serve as the two states’ joint capital for 10 years.
• In 2015, Amaravati was proposed to be the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
• In 2020, a proposal to trifurcate the state capital was floated.
  1. Visakhapatnam as executive capital
  2. Amaravati as legislative capital
  3. Kurnool as the judicial capital
• In 2021, Andhra Pradesh High Court ordered the state government to develop Amaravati as the sole capital within 6 months.
• The Andhra Pradesh government obtained a partial stay on the order from the Supreme Court.
• In January 2023, Vishakhapatnam is announced as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.

The AP government is about to host a Global Investors Summit in March at Vishakhapatnam.

The city will also host the G20 Summit Working Group Committee later in March.