The agency said the interested parties have to submit their applications within two weeks. "The government of AP has decided to establish a greenfield capital city for the new state near the cities of Vijayawada and Guntur in areas of about 30,000 acres. It is also decided to notify a large region surrounding the capital, including five-six municipalities and several villages as a metropolitan development region," the notification said.
According to the document, the government's vision is to create a vibrant, diverse, inclusive and modern city, which is not only a glowing symbol of pride for all the people of AP but also a magnet for skilled migrants from across the world.
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The state government had formally announced in August 2014 that the state capital would be developed around Vijayawada, though during a recent visit to Guntur, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu stated that Guntur district would house the new capital.
There was a lot of speculation over the exact size and location of the land that the government was looking at for this purpose in the intervening period. While the modalities for land acquisition and other formalities were still being worked out by the government, the authorities had quietly conducted a land survey in five mandals - Mangalagiri, Tulluru, Tadikonda, Tadepally and Amaravathi in Guntur district and in Kanchikacherla mandal in Krishna district. The survey, which had covered the land south of the Krishna river, about 10 km away from the river bank, was the first definite step in identification of areas for a possible acquisition.
Earlier, the government had constituted two committees - one with industrialists and party MPs for the purpose of suggesting ways to raise resources and the other one with ministers and secretaries to finalise the modalities of the land acquisition. The government had clarified that the land acquisition would be done only through a land-pooling mechanism, though the modalities for the same are yet to be announced.
At a recent meeting held by the chief minister, it was reportedly decided that the government would offer 40 per cent of the developed land to the farmers. But this 40 per cent share is calculated after keeping aside around 40 per cent of the total extent of land towards roads and other infrastructure. Based on this calculation, a farmer will get a 1,000-sq-yard plot for every 4,800 sq yard (one acre) land he is willing to part with under the pooling system. But no official orders were issued in this regard.
"The idea was to first sensitise the farmers on the advantages of the land-pooling system before announcing the modalities," a government official said. Though the Cabinet sub-committee was slated to visit these areas from October 17 this year to interact with farmers on this aspect, the tour programme was put off for the time being.
According to some, the idea of moving towards Amaravathi and nearby mandals in Guntur district was fraught with challenges. The government needs to deal with a large number of farmers as the size of a land-holding in this rich delta area is just around two-three acres and also prone to flooding.
The vaastu sastra is said to be one of the reasons as to why the government had preferred these areas over the Nuziveedu area, which not only has around 50,000 acres of government and forest land, but is located far above the mean seal level compared to the Amaravathi region. Nuziveedu, a mandal headquarters in Krishna district, is located north of the Krishna river.
The government had announced public-private partnership as the preferred mode for execution, while it mulls over introducing municipal bonds for raising funds.
The spatial concept master plan along with special development control regulations/zoning regulations for the city and the region would be ready in nine to 12 months, according to the Incap notification. There is no clarity on how much money the Centre would give for the project.
Officials in Delhi reportedly told the state government that it should first provide information about the location and the plan of the capital city before seeking clarity on funding, according to some reports.