Singapore: The Singapore government preparing the master plan of the AP capital will not prevent private companies of the city-state to take part in global tenders for selection of the master developer.
While providing clarity on the role of Singapore government in development and construction of the AP capital, Singapore minister for foreign affairs K. Shanmugam said that his government would only be confined to developing the master plan.
“We won’t be building, it has to be left to the private sector. Our companies will naturally be interested. A project of this size may have several ventures and joint ventures with a mix of expertise,” said Mr Shanmugham.
In an official interaction with select AP media representatives Mr Shanmugam said that huge constructions were not Singapore’s strength. However, Singapore wants to collaborate with Japan on this, he said, adding that if the capital construction project was economically viable, companies would come forward.
Regarding the timeline for the capital’s construction, he said it was up to the AP government to comment on it. He added that the master plan was being made keeping in view the needs of a population projected up to 2050.
“There are many international and Indian companies that can take up such huge projects,” he said, adding, “I know that the AP CM has spoken to Japan. It has companies that have taken up large-scale constructions.”
“We have done the initial outline of the master plan and are working on the detailed plan currently. The actual construction will start after that and the AP government needs a master developer, capital and global participation for that,” he said.
While it will be AP’s decision how to go about the construction, the Singapore experts have advised to build phase wise. "I understand that land has been acquired. And now it depends on identifying the partners for development…no one can build everything at one go,” said Mr Shanmugam.
He added, “Singapore has developed at a rapid pace. AP has an advantage that it need not knock down something and resettle huge number of people like we did. You have to start with a clean slate. My understating is that AP is thinking on developing the capital phase wise. Depending on how it grows, AP can build in a modular way and expand."
“I will not know the ground situation in AP. The elected AP government has to tell us what should be incorporated in the master plan. We are green conscious. What has worked here may not work there. It is for the user to decide. What works in Brazil may not work in AP and what works in AP may not work in China,” he said.
