Hyderabad belongs to Telangana, no longer Andhra Pradesh Capital

The city of Hyderabad officially ceases to be the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on 2 June 2024. 

On 2 June 2014, Hyderabad was made the joint capital of Andhra Pradesh and the newly created state of Telangana for ten years. Telangana was created as the 29th state of India by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

Status of Hyderabad

The state of Telangana was created by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014, passed by the parliament under Article 3 of the constitution. 

Under this act, Hyderabad, the capital of united Andhra Pradesh, was given to Telangana. Section  5 (1) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014 provided that Hyderabad would remain the common capital of both states for a period of ten years, starting 2 June 2014.

Section 5(2) of the act provides that a new capital will be established for Andhra Pradesh after this period, and Hyderabad will become the sole capital of Telangana.

Status of Andhra Pradesh New Capital 

After the passage of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs appointed a committee to “ Study the Alternatives for a New Capital for the State of Andhra Pradesh”. The committee was headed by K.C.Sivaramakrishnan. The committee suggested Amravati as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Accepting the committee's recommendation, the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly passed the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act (APCRDA), 2014, which made Amaravati the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. At that time, Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was in power in the state.

In 2019, the Jagan Mohan Ready government came into power in Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra assembly repealed the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act (APCRDA), 2014 and passed the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020.

The bill proposed Visakhapatnam as the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh, Amravati as its Legislative capital and Kurnool as the Judicial capital 

According to the government, the reason for having three separate capitals for the state was  to allow the development of several regions of the state and promote inclusive development.

High Court Judgement 

The bill was challenged in the Andhra High Court. In its ruling in 2022, the High Court declared it unconstitutional as the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014 provided for only one capital for Andhra Pradesh. The High Court ordered the government to develop Amaravati as the sole capital city within six months.

The Andhra Pradesh government has challenged the High Court judgment in the Supreme Court and the matter is in the court.