Andhra's seed capital to be built on transit oriented principles

Singapore firms submit third stage master plan for new capital Amaravati

The Andhra Pradesh government today formally received the Seed Capital Area (SCA) master plan, the third and final component of the proposed new capital city, designed by a consortium of Singapore firms led by Sarbana International Consultants.

The seed capital comprises key government structures along with a central business district and residential townships among other facilities across an area of 16.9 square km on the northern portion of the capital city abutting the perennial Krishna river.

Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu received the SCA master plan documents from S Eswaran, second minister for trade and industry of Singapore Government, at Rajahmundry. Naidu said, “October 22, 2015, has been decided as the day of laying the foundation stone for Amaravati (the name of AP’s new capital) as we seek to be begin the ground work from that day.”

Earlier in the day,  a high-level delegation led by Eswaran flew to Rajahmundry to meet Naidu, who has been camping in the coastal town for the past one week to directly monitor the arrangements for the ongoing Gadavari Pushkaralu.

Eswaran said the real partnership with Andhra Pradesh would begin from this point by assisting the state in the development of capital city. “We will continue to collaborate on development of Amaravati,” he said.

 

According to the state government, the seed capital area will be implemented in public-private partnership mode by selecting an investment partner. The government is also in the process of selecting a master developer, who in turn will facilitate investments and tie-ups from global companies for the construction of the capital city. The AP government had initially estimated that the capital city would require about Rs 1.20 lakh crore for its development.

The government also hopes to attract as much as $ 50 billion investment in  the infrastructure as well as a host of industrial hubs being proposed around the capital city.

 

The three-stage master plan involves covering 7,420 square km of the capital region, 854 square km of the central plan area and a little over 370 sq km of the capital city envisaging a population of 13 million by 2050.

AP had signed an MoU with the Singapore government in this regard in December 2014. Subsequently, the consortium of Singapore firms submitted the Stage-1 capital region plan in March 30 and Stage-2 capital city master plan on May 25.

Under the third stage, the seed capital area has been planned on  transit-oriented development principles. “To provide and enhance mobility and accessibility to the citizens, the master plan provides a transport hierarchy that comprises an integrated network of metro rail network of about 12 km, bus rapid transit of about 15 km, downtown road of about 7 km, arterial roads and sub-arterial roads of about 26 km and collector roads of about 53 km with varying broad right-of-ways,” the government stated.

The seed capital area has been planned for about 300,000 residents and is being developed as a vibrant business hub with a total of about 700,000 jobs in various sectors, including government. “The iconic developments will include state-of-the-art government complex, city gateway, cultural centre, a convention centre etc,” it said.

The state government has been mobilising around 50,000 acres of land, including 33,000 acres of farm lands, for the development of Amaravati in the south coastal district of Guntur and adjoining areas of Krishna district. The Centre had already allotted Rs 500 crore towards the capital city development for the current year as the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, provides for financial assistance to AP towards building a new capital.

During his recent visit to Japan, Naidu had invited Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the foundation laying ceremony of the proposed capital city. The state government has already invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the event.