In another major milestone for Andhra Pradesh’s upcoming capital city Amaravati, the foundation stone for the Amaravati startup area has been laid.
As per a report in the Hindu, the foundation stone is being laid at Mandadam village with a ceremony attended by CM N Chnadrababu Naidu, S Iswaran, Singapore minister for trade and industry and a host of delegates.
His Excellency S Iswaran said that this is a momentous occasion. “It all started two years back when government of Andhra Pradesh invited us to prepare three master plans for Amaravati. The master plans were shaped greatly to suit the vision of Amaravati. The Singapore companies completed the master plan in record time and the last of the plans was handed over in July 2015,” he said.
The AP government signed an MoU with the government of Singapore in December 2014 for development of Amaravati on the banks of the Krishna river.
Approvals for proposals that the Singapore Consortium submitted for the development of the startup area have been given by the government. This comes under the Swiss Challenge method. The Ascendas-Singbridge and Sembcorp Design consortium will develop the area along with the Amaravati Development Corporation (ADC).
Additionally, the ADC and the consortium will float a special purpose vehicle for this for which an MoU was signed on Monday.
Ajay Jain, principal secretary (energy and infrastructure) in the state government said in his welcome address that it’s a red-letter day for Andhra Pradesh and the two historic events which took place on Monday will go a long way in the development of capacity building in Andhra Pradesh, not just for government officers but also in urban planning.
As per the Hindu report, the government is proposing to develop 1,691 acres in three phases over the next 15 years. In the first phase, 656 acres will be developed followed by 514 acres in the second and 521 acres in the third phase.
The turnover and profits will be shared in a 42:58 ratio by the government and the consortium. The average gross revenue for the government will be 8.7% as the gross revenue share is 5% during the first phase, 7.5% during second and 12% in the third phase.
A total of Rs 4,468 crore will be invested of which the consortium will invest Rs 3,068 crore and the State government will spend Rs 222 crore.
Once the entire capital city is developed, at least 1.25 lakh families are expected to live in the core capital area creating around 2.5 lakh jobs and contributing Rs 1.15 lakh crore to the GSDP.
“I would also encourage Singapore companies to closely study sunrise Andhra Pradesh vision 2029 and understand economic priorities of Andhra Pradesh and how you can play a role in their vision,” Iswaran said.
“Singapore, our companies and our officials are fully committed to this project with you, your team, and your people. Through our collective endeavour, we have confidence that we will succeed and benefit the people of both the regions," he added.