APCRDA receives nod to develop capital Amaravati

Vijayawada: In a significant development related to construction of capital Amaravati, the State government directed the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) to develop the new capital city – ‘Amaravati’, envisioned as the People’s Capital of Andhra Pradesh.

In the orders released on Sunday, the Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development said the goal is to create a happy, green, climate-resilient and inclusive city with the highest standards of livability and infrastructure supported by a thriving economy with an objective to leverage regional heritage and culture to establish itself as an administrative centre and economic hub, providing jobs, and high quality urban infrastructure.

With the orders issued on Sunday, the APCRDA will go ahead to secure financial assistance from World Bank and Asian Development Bank and will restart the capital works.

Earlier, the APCRDA submitted a project proposal through ‘PPR ID T-12403 – The Amaravati Inclusive and Sustainable Capital City Development Programme’ to the Department of Economic Affairs, seeking financial assistance of Rs 15,000 crore (USD 1.786 billion).

The programme focuses on creating a safe and sustainable urban ecosystem through key infrastructure activities, including: Construction of trunk roads and utility ducts for essential services, storm water drainage and flood mitigation by development of streams, retention reservoirs and flood defence system, development of roads, utilities, green spaces in LPS zones, 24x7 clean water supply system, sewerage system including STPs, construction of key public buildings using green standards, Institutional strengthening and capacity building and raising finances through Innovative financing methods. The report was aimed at all-round development of the capital Amaravati.

The Department of Economic Affairs, communicated to the AP government that the proposal submitted by APCRDA “The Amaravati Inclusive and Sustainable Capital City Development Programme” has been accepted by both Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), namely the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with each providing funding support of USD 800 million (a total of USD 1.6 billion) for construction of the capital.

The remaining share will be covered by the State government with support from the Union government.

The State government issued orders to APCRDA to take necessary action for securing financial assistance from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank for the development of Amaravati.

The Commissioner, APCRDA, has requested to create a separate Budget Head along with allocation and periodic transfer of funds to the Current Account of APCRDA as per programme framework.

The Commissioner, APCRDA, Vijayawada is permitted to act as an implementing agency on behalf of the government and sign the project agreement with lending agencies and the Commissioner shall take further action in the matter, stated Special Chief Secretary G Anantha Ramu in the orders issued on Sunday.