Five years after the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government abandoned the Amaravati project, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has set the ball rolling to construct the “people’s capital”.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has approved capital works to the tune of about ₹50,000 crore. This includes construction of the Legislative Assembly and the High Court buildings. It has also taken steps to invite tenders for works and accorded administrative sanction to 20 engineering works valued at ₹11,468 crore.
In its submission to the Supreme Court, where cases relating to the capital are pending disposal, the government said that it would complete the project in three years instead of six months as ordered by the High Court on March 3, 2022. It pointed out that the timelines set in 2014 when the TDP came to power were “overtaken by past events”.
The government is confident of accomplishing the task within the promised time period. However, this is easier said than done because of the sheer size and number of offices and residential spaces that need to be built, as per its target.
In addition, there is the issue of mobilisation of funds. Loan repayment obligations will impose a huge burden on the public exchequer. But this is inevitable since the State desperately needs a capital after Hyderabad ceased to be the common capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana last year, as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
A silver lining in the cloud is the Central government’s promise of providing ₹15,000 crore as aid. It plans to arrange this amount from the World Bank and other multilateral lending institutions. Delegations of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and so on have conducted a social impact assessment study to lend funds to the Amaravati project. In fact, the World Bank has given in-principle clearance for the loan. The Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited is also providing a loan of ₹11,000 crore.
The master plan was prepared by the London-based Foster + Partners and no major changes have been made to it by the State government.
The Assembly building, spanning 103 acres, will feature a 250-meter-tall structure, offering a panoramic view of the city. There will be five administrative towers of which three will have at least 39 floors. Besides these, the government is planning to build a host of buildings. The cost of construction of these have gone up by 42% over the last five years, according to the Municipal Administration Minister.
The establishment of offices of various Central government departments, and reputed educational institutions, for which lands were allotted in 2014-19 is an important component in the overall capital development plan.
While infrastructure works, such as connecting the trunk roads in Amaravati to the NH-16, are in various stages of construction, the Centre recently approved a new 57 km-long railway line from Errupalem in Khammam district of Telangana to Nambur in Guntur district via Amaravati. This is bound to give fillip to the development of Amaravati.
For now, the government is busy with the tender floating process. The construction of these buildings is expected to gain momentum this month. Having committed to completing the works in just three years, the government is expected to work ceaselessly. If it does not meet its ambitious deadline, the project will drag on further to the overall detriment of the State. Raising and efficiently using funds for the capital is also a tough task as the government has already been grappling with a shoe-string budget. However, Mr. Naidu has an advantage as politically, his government is on sound footing. The TDP-Jana Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance occupies 164 out of 175 seats in the Assembly.
In fact, the YSRCP was also firmly in the saddle with 151 seats. But it jeopardised the capital project by choosing to follow the South African model of three capital cities and failing to implement it. The YSRCP paid the price for its folly by losing the election; and so did the people, who have not seen any development.
Over the last few years, Andhra Pradesh was constantly running into trouble regarding its capital. Finally, it is set to have one.
Published – January 13, 2025 01:42 am IST
