Union minister of state for home Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary said a staggering Rs 27,097 crore needed for the construction of Amaravati, proposed green field capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Giving this information to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the minister said the estimate was arrived at by an expert committee appointed on the construction of the Andhra Pradesh capital. The expert committee, set up for the purpose of new capital of Andhra Pradesh, indicated that Rs 10,519 crore were needed for capital zone buildings. Rs 1536 crore were necessary for the development of infrastructure in the capital zone. Another Rs 5,861 crore were indicated for city infrastructure and Rs 9,181 crore for infrastructure growth extension.

“Total amount indicated to this regard is Rs 27,097 crore. A fund of Rs 1,850 crore has been provided to the successor state of Andhra Pradesh for state capital and infrastructure facility during 2014-15 and 2015-16,” he said in reply to a written question.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for Amaravati, near Vijayawada on October 22, 2015.

But, the state government has its own estimation of cost for the construction of the new capital. Though officials say cost of the capital project is still being worked out, it has been tentatively estimated that the project would need about Rs 1.5 lakh crore and buildings of seed capital alone require Rs 20,000 crore at present rates.

The capital plan has three components a core capital area with 16.9 sq km housing the seat of government , business district and residential homes for about 3 lakh people; a large capital city encircling the seed capital spreading over an extent of 217 sq km; and finally a capital region of 7,420 sq km.