Andhra Pradesh panel to pay for visits

Hyderabad: Observers are surprised by the decision of AP government’s advisory committee to visit capital cities in foreign countries for a study to build a new state capital. The expenditure will be borne by the advisory committee members on their own for the visits.

Talking to reporters Mr Narayana said that the state government officials will discuss with other state government officials and fix appointments and then they will visit the capital cities in the country. After getting appointments from foreign countries they will visit capitals of those countries. The new capital will be a world class city with the latest technology. The construction of the new capital will require around Rs 1.40 lakh crore.

He said that the Sivaramakrishnan committee made a power point presentation on the construction of the capital. The committee has suggested the capital should be where there is water, power, road, rail and air connectivity.

The new capital will require 25,000 acres of land. He said that for Gujarat’s capital Gandhinagar and Chhattisgarh’s capital Naya Raipur construction was started on 25,000 acres and so far Gujarat has used 4,000 acres and Chhattisgarh used below 3,000 acres.

Mr Narayana said that the Sivaramakrishnan committee would submit its report by August 20. The committee said that they had an open mind on the issue of selecting the location of the state capital.

Asked about the CM’s announcement that the new capital will come up between Vijayawada and Guntur, Mr Narayana said that the state government had not decided yet. The CM aired his opinion like many other opinions being floated. He said keeping in view that the capital city should be accessible to the people of 13 districts in the state the Vijayawada-Guntur, area was mentioned but it is not final. He said a final decision will be taken after the Sivaramakrishnan committee submits its report in consultation with the Centre.