Andhra: Jagan govt clears formation of 13 new districts, takes total to 26

The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday issued a gazette notification announcing that 13 new districts would be created. This takes the total number of districts in the state to 26.

The cabinet of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy approved the proposal to form new districts at its meeting on Tuesday under section 35 of the AP Districts Formation Act.

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had previously declared he intended to create new districts for administrative efficiency. He had indicated the districts would be created based on the number of Parliamentary constituencies in the state, 25.

While 24 constituencies have been converted to districts, the Araku Lok Sabha seat in Visakhapatnam tribal area will be divided into two districts.

The new districts are Manyam, Alluri Sitharama Raju, Anakapalli, Kakinada, Kona Seema, Eluru, NTR District, Bapatla, Palnadu, Nandyal, Sri Satyasai, Annamayya and Sri Balaji.

The process of creating the new districts is expected to be completed by Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, in April. In Telangana, the K. Chandrashekar Rao government had created 33 districts from the 10 that existed when the state was bifurcated in 2014.