The 2026 Act that wrote Amaravati into the law as the capital
Until April 2026 the capital of Andhra Pradesh rested on a state notification. That is why it could be reversed in 2019. The Amendment Act moved the decision into the parent Act of Parliament.
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What the Act says
Section 5(2) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 said that Hyderabad would be the common capital for up to ten years "and there shall be a new capital" for Andhra Pradesh. The 2026 amendment replaces that open-ended phrase with "and Amaravati shall be the new capital". That one change is the whole point. The capital's name now sits in a central law, not in a state government order.
The Lok Sabha passed the Bill during the 2026 Budget session, and the Rajya Sabha passed it on 2 April 2026. Akashvani reported the President's assent on 7 April 2026; Wikipedia records it as signed on 6 April 2026. Either way, the Act was in force by the first week of April.
Why it matters
- Political risk falls. A future state government cannot move the capital with its own law alone. Changing a central Act needs Parliament.
- Lenders and institutions wanted this. The World Bank, ADB and the banks building the financial district all lend on the basis that the capital will stay where it is.
- Land pooling farmers get certainty. The 2019 to 2024 pause hit hardest the 26,000-plus families who had pooled land. Their returnable plots are now in a city that the law itself backs.
What it does not settle
The Act names the capital. It does not pay for it, build it or fix any dates. Construction still depends on tenders, monsoons and loan payments. Politics has not gone quiet either. In July 2026 the opposition YSRCP said it would fight the next election on a MAVIGUN corridor idea (Machilipatnam–Vijayawada–Guntur) instead of putting the spending into Amaravati. That is an argument for the next election. It does not change the law as it stands.
The Chief Minister answered on 1 August 2026 by floating an "integrated capital region" that would plan Amaravati, Vijayawada and Guntur together. No decision was taken on it. Separately, on 14 August 2026 the Supreme Court declined to reopen a 2021 criminal case over Amaravati land pooling against the Chief Minister and the minister, which the High Court had quashed in July. None of this changes the capital's place in the law.
Questions people ask
Did the Act make Amaravati the only capital?
Yes. It names Amaravati as the new capital in Section 5(2) of the 2014 Act. There is no provision for a second executive or judicial capital.
Can a state government still move the capital?
Not on its own. The capital is now named in a central Act, so changing it would need an amendment passed by Parliament.
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