What happened
The Andhra Pradesh government has approved Rs 2,540 crore for glass cladding, atriums, and skylights for the new Integrated State Secretariat and Heads of Department complexes in Amaravati — the capital built on 34,000 acres of farmland voluntarily pooled by farmers in 2015. Those farmers were promised developed returnee plots, education facilities, housing benefits, and Rs 5,000 monthly pensions. By 2026, a CAG report found that Rs 2,244 crore worth of the pooled land was sitting idle, pensions had lapsed, and plot allotment was still being described as 'in progress.' A three-member committee has now given the government one month to resolve what it calls 'decade-old land pooling grievances' — a deadline the decade itself did not observe. Meanwhile, a second phase of land pooling targeting 16,666 more acres of fertile farmland across seven villages began in January 2026, before the first phase promises were fulfilled. Construction cost estimates run at Rs 12,000 per square foot, three times the Delhi rate, which the opposition has described as creative infrastructure math.