Will Amaravati, the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh, develop into a global business hub in the years to come?

This is the first question that comes to mind given the mega plans unveiled by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for the city.

As per the final master plan provided by Singapore to the State, the core capital city covers an area of 17 km on the south bank of the Krishna River. It will have a mix of commercial and residential areas to meet the employment requirement and catalyse economic growth. Beyond this, the city extends to 217 km in the heart of 7,420 km of the entire capital region.

The prime attractions for the business community are the agricultural production zone, industrial corridors, urban areas and economic city with a greenfield airport and a 210-km outer ring road, among others. The master plan makers claim that it will create opportunities for foreign companies and investors in areas such as urban solutions, manufacturing and logistics.

“Amaravati is expected to be the home for 10 million people working across diverse sectors with over 50 per cent of jobs coming from industrial, financial, IT, corporate and government sectors,” claims Surbana Jurong Pvt Ltd of Singapore which prepared the plan.

According to the Chief Minister, the first phase of core capital including government infrastructure, some industrial zones and economic city will be in place by 2019. According to the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Commissioner N Srikanth, the entire master plan for the capital region will be ready in about a month which will be followed by the engineering designs. The actual construction will only begin some time in 2017.

But a few questions remain. The funding and financial closure will be the biggest challenges. There has been no single estimate of required funds which might range upwards of ₹1 lakh crore. That State is betting big on the Public Private Participation (PPP) model and is looking east to Singapore, China and Japan, among others for investments. It is also pinning its hopes on the Centre, which is expected to release special grant for the capital and confer special status for the State.

There are a few other challenges such as completion of land pooling. Out of the proposed 33,000 acres of land, the acquisition of 3,000 acres of land has been put on hold as farmers have declined to part with their land.

There is no clarity on environment clearance for the project and the Green Council has served notices to the State Government.

The Chief Minister, who had created the IT city Cyberabad in Hyderabad in his earlier stint, is, however, confident. “Funding will come automatically. I have ideas, land and opportunities,’’ he said. It remains to be seen whether his mega plans will turn into reality without any time lag to make Amaravati a post-modern capital city in the country.

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