Hopes renewed as Botsa clears clouds on Capital Amaravati

Vijayawada: The announcement made by the State Government in the Legislative Assembly on Friday with regard to Capital Amravati , has given breathing space to infra and real estate sectors.

In a reply to the query raised by the TDP members in the Council, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Botsa Satyanarayana stated that as such there is no proposal with the Government over shifting the Capital from Amaravati. He also clarified that the question of an additional burden on the exchequer, over the proposed shift of Capital does not arise. A TDP member said that the clouds hovering over the issue were cleared.

It may be noted that the government has constituted an expert committee to address the issue, threadbare.

Meanwhile, the decision of the TDP government to allow a Singapore consortium to have more equity, than that of Amaravati Development Corporation is being debated in bureaucratic circles and Assembly lobbies. This is more so in the wake of the Singapore Minister’s recent observation about YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Government.

The Singapore Consortium, as per a government-approved proposal formed Singapore Amaravati Investment Holdings Ltd, a 50-50 joint venture. The JVC has formed Amaravati Development Partner ADP with 58% equity contribution from Singapore Consortium and 42% contribution from ADC (Amaravati Development Corporation, a GoAP company). ADP is the master developer of the startup area of 6.84 Sq Kms (1,691 acres). The shareholders agreement was signed in June last year.

The ADP, which is the master developer, will not have powers to sell the lands. The final Conveyance deed shall be signed by the CRDA, which is the owner of the land on behalf of the GoAP.

Sale of developed plots will be by auction or by negotiation with top global companies, which can assure large-scale employment. Reserve price of land for phase -I is Rs four crore per acre. A committee, comprising ADP and GoAP, will decide the schedule for the next phases.

Given the critical importance of the giant proposal, everyone is looking eagerly to how the Singapore consortium issue will be handled in the backdrop of Botsa’s statement.