Andhra Pradesh government eyes capital partner

 

AP government has come out with a new nomenclature for the master developer – Amaravati Development Partner. The development partner has to be selected and funding has to arranged by October 22, the day the foundation stone is to be laid. The AP government is heavily banking on the Centre stating that all buildings in the Amaravati Government Core will be funded by the Centre as promised in the Act. 

 

So far, the Centre has released only Rs 1,500 crore, a pittance when compared to the whopping Rs 1 lakh crore needed. Interestingly Mr Naidu said on Monday at Rajahmundry that “mon-ey is a constraint and money is not a constraint”.

 

JNTU registrar and civil engineering expert, Prof. N.V. Raman Rao said, “Planning is okay. The finance part is more important. Unless there is enough source of funding, the plan will not take off. The development will be half baked. Centre will not be giving the entire funds as asked. AP should think whether it is ready to have so much luxury at this point of time. Even if it is built, economic sustainability of the whole project is a key factor."

 

AP communication adviser Parakala Prabhakar said, “Around six countries or units have expressed interest to be a partner in the development of Amaravati. Apart from Singapore and Japan, big companies from Europe and United States have shown interest. The core government building funds will come from the Centre.  A joint panel will be formed with Singapore and AP government high level officials to continue the cooperation between both. Singapore is also helping us in solid waste management and generating energy from waste.”

 

Singapore minister Mr Iswaran said participation of Singapore depended on the process and opportunities to be provided by AP. “We have completed the final phase of planning. It is up to our companies to take part in construction. Our companies are quite interested and keen."

 

HoD of Planning department and dean of studies at School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, Dr Abdul Razak said that since Singapore was already roped in, there would no problem for international firms to invest in the city's development.

 

 

 

Addressing a joint press conference, the CM thanked the Singapore Prime Minister and his government for preparing the Capital Regional Concept Master Plan spread over in about 7,420 sq. km area, Capital City Master Plan of about 217 sq. km area and Seed Capital Area Master Plan coming up on about 16.9 sq. km area in a phased manner and said that no payments had been done for doing so.

 

Mr Naidu said that the foundation stone would be laid for the construction of the Capital Region Master Plan on October 22 and added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Ministers of Singapore and Japan would also be invited to take part in the event. 

For development of the Seed Capital Area, the CM called for an “Amaravati Development Partnership” under the “Swiss Challenge Approach” and called upon the government of Singapore to take a lead role in building a world-class smart city with support from the government of Japan and other states and MNCs. 

 

The CM said that under Capital Region Concept Master Plan, they were planning to provide development corridors that would connect the capital city and regional centres and added that the development corridors would help set up clean industries, infrastructure projects and logistic-based activities. 

National projects like Dedicated Freight Corr-idor along East Coast Corridor and high speed rail and waterways would be developed. Under the Capital City Master Plan, the CM said they would develop a vibrant economy, create a livable city, enhance connectivity and mobility and ensure sustainability. 

 

He said that the capital city area was meant to accommodate 4 million people with an expectation to generate 1.8 million jobs in various sectors in addition to developing service sector, IT, finance, tourism and other support services. 

 

The CM said that the Seed Capital Area would be developed in five phases and was planned to accommodate 3 lakh people with an expectation to generate 7 lakh jobs in various sectors. He also said that the capital area would have an integrated network of Metro Rail network for about 12 km, bus rapid transit for about 15 km, downtown roads of about 7 km, arterial roads and sub-arterial roads for about 26 km.

 

The CM said it would be having extensive walkways and pedestrianisation interlinked with open and green spaces with a blue and green network of over 25 km walk-to-walk environment and non-motorised transport. "I beseech Godavari Mata on the eve of the ongoing Godavari Maha Pushkaralu to help complete the project in an expeditious manner and extended blessings to the delegation members," Mr Naidu said.

 

Later, Singapore minister S. Iswaran said that his government was looking forward to maintaining a long term relationship with the AP government. He said that their Centre for Livable Cities would take up capacity building by training officials to implement the master plans to develop a livable and vibrant city with quality housing, good economic activities and huge job potential. He thanked Mr Naidu for giving an opportunity to contribute their share for developing the capital city of Amaravati.