Cycling to work – or taking the occasional boat – are premium features of the masterplan for the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati.
The proposal has been drawn up by experts from the Singapore government, hired by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to compose the layout his state’s comeback to Hyderabad, which for now is the shared capital between Andhra and Telangana, which was carved out as its own state nearly a year ago.
The Singapore brief was submitted to Mr Naidu today, who is credited with developing Hyderabad as an IT hub a decade ago.
This is Singapore’s second iteration of the master plan; the first was submitted in March and amended based on Mr Naidu’s feedback.
Addressing the controversial issue of how farm land will be acquired, the government said “Amravati will be built on land pooled from the contributions of the villagers in the region. In return they will receive plots of commercial and residential land in the city.”
However, some NGOs and farmers have already gone to court to protest the proposed acquisition of their land.
The new capital, according to government estimates, will cost about 18,000 crores. The Centre has so far committed to 1,500 crores, though it has promised a much larger contribution once the final masterplan is presented.
