Singapore unveils master plan for Amravathi, the new Andhra capital

Hyderabad, May 25: The Singapore government on Monday unveiled the master plan for Amravathi, the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh.

The master plan was submitted by Singapore's Second Minister for Trade and Industry S.Iswaran to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

To come up on the banks of Krishna River and between the existing cities of Vijayawada and Guntur, the capital city will have world-class infrastructure and it will be developed with extensive use of technology, said Naidu. He added that this will be truly people's capital.

He said the foundation stone for the capital will be laid on June 6 while the work will start on Vijaya Dasami.

Iswaran said the master plan will guide development of Amaravathi till 2050. "The city will be developed not in one, two or five years but over few decades," he said.

The five key features of the master plan are Agrowing a vibrant economy; creating a liveable city; enhancing connectivity and active mobility; ensuring sustainability; and the People's Capital.

According to the plan, the capital will have a population of 11 million with 3.31 million jobs by 2035. The population is expected to be 13.5 million with total jobs of 5.6 million by 2050.

The capital region will be spread over 7,420 square km. The central planning area will cover 854 sq km while the capital city will span over 217 sq km.

The capital city will have expressway and semi-expressway to a length of 127 km and arterial roads of 155 km.

The public transit (metro) will run up to a length of 135 km. Under non-motorised transport strategy, the plan mooted park trails, bike trails, waterfront promenade and lake parks.

Amravati residents will also have non-motorised transport choices using an extensive network of walkways, cycle tracks and local waterways.

The other features include civic park, waterfront, cricket stadium, golf course, university, canal parks and central park.

As the capital city is coming up on the banks of Krishna River, the master plan include key component of river treatment. This comprises golf courses, island resorts, waterfront residential and island theme park.

The religious tourism circuit will cover key religious places including Buddhist site of Amravati.

The delivery of the master plan marks the second milestone in the three-stage plan of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between International Enterprise Singapore and the Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh.

The first stage, the Capital Region Plan, was completed and handed over to the Andhra Pradesh government on March 30 this year.

The Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and the Swachh Andhra Corporation (SAC) also signed an agreement to jointly develop a framework for an integrated solid waste management master plan for Andhra Pradesh.

As part of the project, SCE will work with Singapore's Centre of Liveable Cities to deliver the framework and organise two advisory workshops in consultation with key officials from the municipal administration and urban development department and commissioners of selected urban local bodies in the state. The project is expected to be completed in three months.