Rama Krishna Sangem
Stalled works of AP capital Amaravati will resume from December 2024, after a gap of five and a half years when YS Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power in 2019. This time, CM Chandrababu Naidu is taking care that a major portion of works – mostly construction of key administrative buildings – will be completed at the earliest.
The resumption of Amaravati construction will definitely impact the real estate of not only the capital surrounding areas of AP, but also that of Hyderabad and Telangana. Experts are of the view that there could be some slump in real estate of Hyderabad for some months, but prices will not come down due to Amaravati.
A Rs 15,000 crore assistance from the World Bank is coming in a month toAP. The Central government has given the guarantee to the World Bank. This was first announced in the Union Budget this July. CM Naidu was in Delhi on October 5 and 8 to finalize the details of the World Bank loan release schedule.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Naidu on October 8 Tuesday said that the World Bank has agreed to extend Rs 15,000 crore loan to the state government for the construction of the capital Amaravati and its work will start from December.
Naidu thanks PM Modi
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Naidu, thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he met on Monday, said, the Centre has agreed to release Rs 12,500 crore towards the construction works of Polavaram project.
He further said oil and gas major Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd will be setting up a refinery with an investment outlay of Rs 85,000 crore in the state and the company is currently conducting a feasibility study into selecting the location.
The chief minister said he appraised the PM of “Swarna Andhra Pradesh 2047” vision document which is under preparation, aiming to make the state a USD 2.5 trillion economy with USD 40,000 per capita income. “The World Bank has agreed to give Rs 15,000 crore for the construction of Amaravati capital phase-1. The work will start in December. We will work in a time-bound manner,” Naidu said.
Replying to a query, he said both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are engaged in talks to resolve pending issues. He said the upcoming Visakhapatnam International Airport at Bhogapuram will be ready by December next year and the GMR group which is executing the project was asked to set up a “Civil Aviation University” in the vicinity.
I have explained to the Prime Minister about the financial destruction that took place during the last five years. At the same time, I have informed him that the state is facing financial difficulties,” he said.
The CM alleged that the previous YSRCP government failed to utilise the Central sponsored schemes and the funds given by the union government were diverted for other purposes. They have not given the utilisation certificates for the Central funds, resulting in a stoppage of fund flow, he said.
Naidu said due to laxity of the previous government as much as 85 lakh tons of garbage was piled up across the state, which the present regime started disposing of.
The Andhra CM said the Centre was requested to construct Greenfield Expressway between Vijayawada and Hyderabad and also a 185 km-long Outer Ring road at Amravati.
He said the union government is currently mulling various options for the survival of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.
Naidu is currently in the national capital and met PM Modi and some of his Cabinet colleagues, including Nitin Gadkari and Hardeep Singh Puri.
A for Amaravati, P for Polavaram
For Chandrababu Naidu, AP stands for Amaravati and Polavaram irrigation project. These two flagship projects are important for his political survival. He made a promise to complete these major projects if TDP alliance was voted to power. Even allies Jana Sena and BJP too vowed to work for these two big projects.
Former CM Jagan disbanded Amaravati capital on the grounds that it required huge amounts for construction alone, which may take 25-30 years. Instead, Jagan announced 3 capitals scheme –whereby Visakhapatnam will be developed as the executive capital. But, somehow he failed to take forward any of these three capitals project.
Polavaram too suffered a jolt during Jagan’s time as there was some confusion on the choice of contractors and the priority of works to be taken up. Now that Naidu is back in power, completion of these projects has become an issue of prestige for the TDP led government. This Rs 15,000 crore loan from the World Bank will boost the capital project.
