Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who is in Singapore to participate in the World Cities Summit Mayors' Forum (WCSMF), on Sunday, invited investors for the development of the city of Amaravati into a world-class capital.
“The best cities in the world will be from India and Amaravati will be one among the top 5 in the world,” Chandrababu Naidu said at the summit.
At the summit, Naidu met Singapore’s Minister of National Development, Lawrence Wong, who stated that the greenfield city provides a golden opportunity for well-planned growth.
“Many ministers from Singapore have visited India recently and are very happy with the growth and the potential of growth. We want a population in Amaravati as we have noticed that the progress of building the city is very good," Wong stated.
Appreciating the uniqueness of the land pooling scheme in Amaravati, Wong added that Singapore is willing to supply the latest technology and ideas to the greenfield city.
Chandrababu thanked Singapore for completing the master plan in a record time, adding that Amaravati will not just be an administrative capital, but will also be an economic hub.
Responding to Singapore Minister Wong’s query on the time frame for the development of Amaravati, the Chief Minister said that around 30 million sqft of land is already under construction. He added that tenders worth Rs 30,000 crores have been sought.
The Chief Minister said that the development of Amaravati will be inclusive of all sections of the society. “It is a people’s capital. We are still overcoming the disadvantages of bifurcation,” Naidu said.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu also attended the World Cities’ Summit Mayors Forum, where 120 mayors and representatives of 165 cities were present.
Minister Wong welcomed all participants and said that the meeting is held every two years and leads to an understanding of all challenges and best practices.
“All cities are now under immense pressure of competition and the need to work together is increasing,” he said.
Speaking at the summit on ‘Disruptive innovation and Financing of Infrastructure,’ Chandrababu Naidu predicted that by 2050, 66% of the world's population will be urban, mainly residing in Asia and Africa.
“Our state is still overcoming difficulties and working towards our vision of being one of the best destinations by 2050. We have been maintaining a double-digit growth consistently, and we are the number one in Ease of Doing Business. We are working with goals, like a well-established power grid, water grid, fibre grid, trunk infrastructure and more. We are providing reliable power at reasonable cost and this will help us nurture a manufacturing hub in our state,” he said.
Claiming that Amaravati will have advanced transport infrastructure, Naidu said, "Our formula is the 5-10-15 minute policy for Amaravati. People should reach their destinations in 5 minutes for an emergency, 10 minutes for social infrastructure and 15 minutes on foot to their workplaces."
"The capital region will have 9 cities and will be a blue and green city. We are engaging the best companies and world’s top architects in building our infrastructure,” he added.