APCRDA Fixes Record Rs 8.20 Crore/Acre Land Rate, Invites RFPs for Star Hotels and Private Schools

What was decided

On Thursday, the APCRDA invited Requests for Proposals for setting up star-category hotels and private schools in Amaravati as part of its efforts to strengthen the capital's hospitality and educational infrastructure. For hotel projects, the APCRDA has fixed the land price at Rs 8.20 crore per acre, the highest value notified in Amaravati so far. Tender documents for both the hotel and school projects became available on Wednesday. A pre-proposal meeting for hotel developers has been scheduled for July 22, while the deadline for submitting bids is July 30.

Hotel plots: sites, sizes and conditions

A total of 9.19 acres has been earmarked for hotel projects. Three three-star hotels and two four-star hotels have been proposed at Thulluru, Rayapudi and Venkatapalem. Developers of three-star hotels will be required to invest a minimum of Rs 75 crore. The four-star hotels must have at least 175 rooms and include banquet or convention facilities with a seating capacity of 2,500 people. Land for the hotel projects will be allotted on a freehold basis.

This is not APCRDA's first attempt to attract hotel investment into the capital. The authority ran an earlier RFP for five-star, four-star and three-star hotel plots back in 2017, with bids invited for delivery by 25 September 2017 — a scheme that predates the current round by nearly a decade, reflecting how long hospitality development in Amaravati has taken to move from notification to construction.

School plots: sites, area and lease terms

To promote quality education in the capital region, the CRDA has also proposed the establishment of five private schools offering classes from Lower Kindergarten to Class XII. The APCRDA has reserved 15.80 acres for private educational institutions. Land for the schools will be leased for 33 years at a rate of Rs 4.10 crore per acre. The schools will be established at Thulluru, Navuluru, Penumaka, Krishnayapalem and Dondapadu.

Stated rationale and practical effect

The APCRDA said the projects are intended to meet the growing demand for quality educational and hospitality facilities as government offices, public representatives, judicial institutions, professionals and domestic and international investors increasingly move to Amaravati.

In practical terms, the notification does two things: it opens a live bidding window (pre-proposal meeting 22 July, bids due 30 July 2026) for developers seeking freehold hotel plots or 33-year school leases, and it sets a new commercial land-value benchmark for the capital. At Rs 8.20 crore/acre, the hotel rate sits well above typical CRDA-approved plot and agricultural land quotes reported elsewhere in Amaravati, and above the Rs 5–8 crore/acre range cited for "prime capital region" land by local brokers, underscoring that this pricing applies specifically to designated commercial hospitality plots rather than general residential or agricultural land.

Context: land pricing in Amaravati

The Rs 8.20 crore/acre hotel rate arrives against a backdrop of sharply rising and highly volatile land values in the capital region. Prices in Amaravati fell by 50–70% after a previous state government proposed decentralising the capital, before rebounding roughly 50% following the change of government in 2024. Separately, in 2025 CRDA was reported to be preparing a broader land-monetisation policy for around 4,000 acres of prime capital land, with an even higher indicative price of Rs 20 crore/acre floated for that scheme — a figure distinct from, and roughly 2.4 times higher than, the Rs 8.20 crore/acre rate now fixed specifically for the hotel RFP plots.

Background: APCRDA and the Amaravati capital project

The city is spread over an area of 217.23 km2, and comprises villages from three mandals viz., Mangalagiri, Thullur and Tadepalli. The seed capital is spread over an area of 16.94 km2. The authority has a jurisdictional area of 8,352.69 km2, covering the districts of Guntur and Krishna, including 217 km2 of the state capital, Amaravati. Land for the capital city was originally assembled through a voluntary land pooling scheme rather than compulsory acquisition, with farmers surrendering agricultural holdings in exchange for developed residential and commercial return plots. The three villages named in this hotel RFP — Thulluru, Rayapudi and Venkatapalem — and the school locations of Navuluru, Penumaka, Krishnayapalem and Dondapadu are among the original land-pooling villages within the capital city footprint.