AP, Singapore in pact to develop start-up area in Amaravati

Vijayawada: A Singapore consortium consisting of Ascendas-Singbridge Pvt Ltd and Sembcorp Development Ltd along with Amaravati Development Corporation (ADC) will develop a 6.84 square km start-up area in Andhra Pradesh capital Amaravati.

Andhra Pradesh on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding towards this effect with Singapore government.

The Singapore consortium and ADC will form a special purpose vehicle Amaravati Development Partner (ADP) for development of the start-up area.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry S. Eswaran along with 59-member strong delegation participated in the MoU signing ceremony here.

Andhra Pradesh and Singapore also signed another MoU for economic development in Andhra Pradesh, enhancing capacities of government departments and agencies and promotion of bilateral trade and investment.

The start-up area comprises 6.84 sq km or 1,691 acres adjacent to the government core area of 900 acres in Amaravati.

The state government is confident that the start-up area will kick-start the economy in Amaravati and will trigger the city as the global destination of people, investments and jobs.

Singapore Consortium will have equity participation of Rs 306 crore (58 per cent) in ADP. ADC will make equity contribution of Rs 222 crore (42 per cent).

ADP will develop this area in 15 years in three phases. Under first phase, 656 acres will be developed in five years. The second phase will cover 514 acres and third phase 521 acres.

ADP will develop, provide world's best infrastructure, market and attract queen bees but final sale of the land will be done by Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), a state government of agency.

Developed plots will be sold by auction or by negotiation to global best companies who can bring in large-scale employment.

Reserve price of land for first phase is Rs 4 crore per acre. A committee consisting of ADP and government of Andhra Pradesh will decide price for next phases.

After sale of 70 per cent of the developed land, the next phase will be started.

ADP will develop 8.07 lakh sq. ft. of state-of-the-art buildings for mixed-use within three years of the start of the project.

The 15-year Greenfield project is expected to bring in resident population of 1.25 lakh families and create 2.50 lakh jobs.

The cumulative contribution to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is expected to be Rs 1.15 lakh crore while revenue to government from taxes will be Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore.

Naidu said Amaravati would be developed as most liveable city with people first concept on par with Singapore and international standards. He said everything should be focused on people-centric development to provide wealth, happiness and health in the new capital.

Iswaran said the partnership with Andhra had started two years ago when Singapore companies prepared three master plans for Amaravati.

He said Singapore Prime Minister was likely to visit India in early 2018 and he will probably visit Amaravati.