Cabinet nod for district rejig

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Monday approved a major reorganisation of districts, clearing 25 administrative changes across 17 districts and paving the way for the creation of two new districts, Polavaram and Markapuram, taking the total number of districts in the state to 28.

The decisions were taken at a Cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Revenue Minister Anagani Satyaprasad, Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar and Health Minister Y Satyakumar later briefed the media on the key outcomes.

Revenue Minister said no changes were made in Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram Manyam, Visakhapatnam, Eluru, NTR, Krishna, Guntur, Palnadu and Anantapur districts. The remaining 17 districts saw boundary and administrative adjustments, based on public representations received after the gazette notification issued on November 27, 2025. Objections were invited till December 27, following which the final decisions were taken.

A key decision was the creation of a new Polavaram district with Rampachodavaram as its headquarters. The minister said the move was aimed at administrative convenience and focused development of tribal areas, even though three districts fall under the same parliamentary constituency.

He added that the Chief Minister had expressed the intent to eventually develop Polavaram village into a revenue division. In Nellore district, three mandals, including Kota, Chillakur and Gudur, have been merged into Nellore district in response to long-pending public demands.

Samarlakota mandal has been shifted to the Peddapuram constituency, while Mandapeta has been included in Rajahmundry. Penugonda village in West Godavari district has been renamed Vasavi Penugonda. Major changes were also approved in the Prakasam region. Addanki constituency has been moved from Bapatla to Prakasam district, and Darsi constituency has been fully placed under the Addanki sub-division. A new Markapuram district has been formed by combining Markapuram, Kanigiri, Giddalur and Yerragondapalem constituencies, fulfilling a long-standing regional demand.

Railway Kodur will now fall under Tirupati district, while Rajampet will continue in Kadapa district. Madanapalle has been designated as district headquarters within Annamayya district, though proposals for a separate Madanapalle district were ruled out. It was clarified that Rayachoti will continue to be part of Annamayya district. Banaganapalle and Addaroddu have been made sub-divisions, Madakasira has been declared a revenue division, and Adoni has been split into Adoni-1 and Adoni-2 mandals.

The Cabinet also reviewed development and welfare initiatives. The Chief Minister said Rs 50,000 crore had been disbursed under the NTR Bharosa pension scheme and Rs 3,700 crore sanctioned for road development. The ‘Swarna Gramam–Swarna Ward’ programme was approved.

Civil Supplies Minister Manohar said 34.60 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had been procured from 5.59 lakh farmers during the Kharif season, with Rs 8,206 crore credited within 24 hours. Health minister Satyakumar outlined reforms under the Universal Health Policy and Sanjeevani programme. The government said a final notification will be issued on December 31, with the new district structure coming into force from January 1, 2026.