Hyderabad: McKinsey & Company’s “free stint” with the Andhra Pradesh government has come to an end. McKinsey has been acting as an ad hoc consultant for the state government for work related to the capital city.
McKinsey, a global management consulting firm, played a crucial role in CM N. Chandrababu Naidu understanding the concept of a world class capital by making a video presentation of models and concepts of nearly a dozen cities. It was left with not much to do after Mr Naidu chose the Singapore government to prepare the master plan for the capital.
The government has said that McKinsey offered its help free to the AP government for nearly six months. It helped the government formulate the crucial AP Capital Region Development Authority Bill, which was passed in the Assembly.
It also assisted the business honchos comprising the AP State Capital Advisory Committee on capital-related work.
Highly-placed sources said that the decision of Mr Naidu to rope in the Singapore government to draw up the master plan for the capital resulted in the planning made till then “go haywire.”
“There was a general impression that the government would hire the services of McKinsey for designing the master plan for the capital, given its association with Mr Naidu’s government in undivided AP before 2004.
McKinsey had played a crucial role in preparation of the Vision-2020 document,” sources said, referring to Mr Naidu’s flagship scheme.
The CM’s decision to take the help of Singapore government, also said to be “free of cost”, has left another project in jeopardy.
The Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh had invited global players to act as project advisory and management consultants for the AP government to build the capital.
Eight global-level consortia were short-listed. The fate of these consortia is in jeopardy as the state government has neither scrapped the invite nor finalised any firm for the PAMC though the date to do so was December 15.
When contacted, Giridhar Aramane, principal secretary, municipal administration and urban development, said that the contract of McKinsey and Company with the state had concluded and there is no reason for speculation. “The state government is going to invite open tenders from consultants to help CRDA in its administration,” he said.
