Singapore announces closure of Amaravati capital city start-up project

Vijayawada: In keeping with a request from the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government, Singapore on Tuesday announced the closure of the Amaravati Capital City Start-Up Area project. This was agreed upon by the State Government and the Singapore Consortium. The move comes a week after the government wished to close the Amaravati project. A few months back, World Bank had also backed out from the proposed development project.

However, the Singapore Consortium in an official statement clarified that the latest move would not impact any of their other investments in India. Despite the setback, the Singapore companies will remain interested in other opportunities in Indian states, including Andhra Pradesh, the statement said.

S Iswaran, Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, said, “The Singapore Consortium was appointed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2017 to help develop the 6.84 square km Start-Up Area of its new capital city Amaravati. We note that the newly elected Government of Andhra Pradesh has decided not to proceed with the Start-Up Area given its other priorities for the state.”

He added, “Companies and other investors do realise such risks when venturing into any overseas market and factor them into their investment decisions. In this instance, the Singapore Consortium companies have stated that the project has cost them a few million dollars and that its closure does not impact their investment plans in India.”