Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Capital Regional Development Authority (CRDA) commissioner Sreedhar Cherukuri on Friday said funding for the capital city is not an issue, instead the biggest challenge before the agency is to race against time and deadline.
While the CRDA needs Rs 45,000 crore for critical infrastructure in capital city of Amaravati over the span of project implementation period, the authority has revenue of only Rs 40 crore per annum through building and layout permissions.
The state government gave approximately Rs 400 crore in the past two years to the CRDA, while the Centre granted Rs 2,500 crore and promised an additional Rs 1,000 crore for Amaravati administrative city.
Speaking exclusively to this newspaper regarding challenges ahead for the construction of the capital, Sreedhar Cherukuri said, “It took 12 years for Astana, Kazaksthan's capital, to grow up to 1.2 million population. Our Chief Minister is targeting to reach this level in five to seven years. Our biggest challenge is make 1 million population live in Amaravati city in the next seven years.”
He said, “Funding for the capital city is not an issue. Around six to seven proposals from multilateral agencies are in an advanced stage. International collaboration is also being worked out. We have Hudco, World Bank, ADB, AIB and BRICS proposals. China and the UK are showing interest. Today, a French delegation came and met us. They expressed their interest to provide technical assistance as well as execute public transportation, water and sewerage, energy as well as smart city solutions. Additionally, the French Development Agency has expressed its keenness to fund key public transport systems and focus infrastructure projects in Amaravati.”
Return of farmers’ plots, developing critical infrastructure like roads, water supply, power in the entire capital city, developing internal amenities in neighbourhood (plots given to farmers) and getting economic value to the city are among CRDA’s priorities.
“Mc Kinsey is working on anchor clients and eight cities. We have already allotted land to Vellore Institute of Technology, Indo UK Hospital, Tirumula Tirupati Devasthanams for the setting up of a replica of Tirumala temple and MCHRD. Around 900 acre of land is allocated for government complexes,” Mr Sridhar said.
Legal hurdles were also being overcome by the authority, he said. "We faced around 60 to 70 writ petitions filed so far in the High Court and could successfully defend ourselves,” he said.
