The AP Secretariat: working from Velagapudi since 2016, five towers rising nearby

The interim complex at Velagapudi

Six blocks with six lakh square feet in all. They were built in 192 days and occupied from 3 October 2016, when about 6,000 employees moved from Hyderabad. The interim Legislative Assembly stands next to it and has held sessions since March 2017. The complex houses the Chief Minister's office and the 37 secretariat departments. That is why Velagapudi and the nearby villages of Thullur and Mandadam see the capital's daily office traffic.

The permanent towers

The permanent Secretariat and Heads of Department complex is five towers on 32 acres. They stand along a spine 900 m long and 139 m wide, on both sides of the Pala Vagu. Four towers have a basement, ground floor and 39 floors. The General Administration Department tower at the south-west end has a basement, ground floor and 49 floors. The total built-up area is about 4.85 lakh square metres, with about 1.05 lakh square metres of basement parking.

The tenders were floated in three packages, reported at ₹844 crore, ₹1,423 crore and ₹1,247 crore. Those three add up to ₹3,514 crore, not to the separately reported total of ₹4,668 crore for which technical bids were opened in May 2025, so do not read them as a breakdown of that total. Construction restarted with the Prime Minister's event on 2 May 2025. In August 2026 the MAUD minister said towers would be completed at the rate of one a month once they reach the finishing stage. The reports do not make clear whether he meant these towers or the housing towers.

On 22 September 2026 the minister reviewed facade work on the GAD and HOD towers, so the frames are up and the outer skin is going on. He did not give figures. Earlier in September he set a two-year target for the main government buildings. That is a target, not a handover date.