The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government in Andhra Pradesh has acquired 33,000 acres of land from farmers of over 26 villages to build the core capital on the banks of river Krishna. Having set the ball rolling, the government has proposed a public-private partnership (PPP) route to build the proposed capital. The name is likely to be Amaravathi and the story of the formation of the capital has a few firsts to it, including land pooling and compensation aspects to the landowners.
The land-pooling system will be a win-win situation for both the landowners and the state government, according to chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. The capital will be unique and slum-free and the share of flora and fauna in the city will be 16%, he says. The city should become the “talk of the world” and also emerge as a tourist destination, Naidu adds. “It will not be a city of mere buildings, but will become an ecosystem for economic and financial growth drivers.”
“The state is facing financial crunch and perhaps the best option would be to go in for a PPP mode,” says Parakala Prabhakar, communications advisor, Andhra Pradesh government. Incidentally, IFC has been roped in to provide advisory services to the state government and suggestions on capacity building exercise. “IFC focuses on PPP infrastructure models on smart cities. The government has sought IFC suggestions on redefining urban management and wants them to engage in 110 municipalities in the state,” he says.
The phase 1 would require about 33,000 acres, which will be split into zones. The government’s decision to procure land through the land-pooling scheme would enable proportionate sharing of benefits, thereby creating a win-win situation. This would also enable the state to develop the new city as a “people’s capital”, as Naidu points out. The same policy will be followed in phases 2 and 3, so as to ensure consistency in the application of development principles. Half the land procured will be utilised for common assets such as roads, open spaces, social infrastructure, etc, and the remaining half will be shared between the landowners and the government.
Besides, the government has set up the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), an organisation mandated to prepare a perspective plan for 100 years, a concept master-plan for 20 years and a detailed master-plan for 10 years for the capital city. The objective of the CRDA is to ensure planning, coordination, execution, financing and funding, and promoting and securing the planned development of the capital. The CRDA has kick-started the process to pay crop compensation to farmers in the capital region.
Nearly 22,000 farmers will receive compensation and annuity of R209 crore by the month-end. The government will pay R1 lakh per acre for horticulture land. Farmers have to sign a development agreement with the CRDA to avail compensation. Irrigated land farmers will receive R50,000 per acre as annuity, while the same for dry land farmers will be R30,000 per acre. The government has fixed these annuities under the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) being implemented for the capital. The annuity will be paid for 10 years, starting now. The government has amended the Clause 2 of Rule 5 of the AP Capital City Land Pooling Scheme (Formulation and Implementation) Rules, 2015.
The government will utilise its share of land to develop world-class infrastructure as well as other common amenities, including the capital complex. As part of the land-pooling scheme, the government will reconstitute land, develop infrastructure and hand over possession of developed plots to the landowners within two-and-a-half years.
The provisions of the Land Acquisition Act have been used to acquire land where the landowners were reluctant to participate in the land-pooling scheme. The government proposes to return a share of the developed land back to the owners. It is also proposed to provide an annuity for a defined period of time, as well as waive off stamp duty, registration fees and other charges. Landless labourers will be paid R2,500 per month for a period of 10 years.
According to the draft master plan prepared by Singapore-based Surbana and Jurong, Naidu has showcased Vijayawada as the business and trading hub in IT, ITeS, electronics, auto and agriculture processing, and Guntur as an agriculture, processing and textile trading hub. There would be an equal distribution of social infrastructure facilities such as schools and hospitals, besides equal land distribution for the capital for government, residential, commercial and cultural projects.
“The Singapore team has been asked to study the pros and cons of Indian cities such as Chandigarh, Naya Raipur, Navi Mumbai and Gandhinagar, and take cues from global cities such as Brasilia, Singapore and Putrajaya,” Prabhakar says.
“For us, land pooling was not a walk in the park. We had to understand the sentiments of landowners and farmers and compensate to the fullest,” Prabahakar adds. “We had to respect the emotional aspects connected to land and compensate rightly.”
The Andhra government is working with a Singapore team from the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) to carry out the draft master-plan of the new capital. As the team is likely to submit the plan in the first week of June, the government will lay the foundation stone for the capital in the second week of June. The CLC team will train the state officials with the concept of the master-plan.
The government would use half the proposed land for common infrastructure, while the “capital complex” would occupy about 7,500 acres. The amount, though a far cry from the R1 lakh crore needed for construction, will be the first lot from the Centre to officially reach the state. In the first phase, important buildings such as the Assembly, Secretariat and Raj Bhavan would be constructed within the core capital area of 7,500 acres. Incidentally, the state budget for FY16 proposes allocation of R3,168 crore for urban development, including development of the capital city.
The project cannot take off unless basic requirements such as concept plan, feasibility study, social impact assessment, environmental impact assessment, environmental clearance and master-plan have been complied with. The state is awaiting funds to the tune of R30,000 crore from the central government as per the AP Reorganisation Act. “The Centre has a lot of responsibility for the construction of the core capital and is awaiting the detailed project report (DPR) from the state. Following the review of DPR, we hope to get the required money in 2015-16,” he says.
The state is poised to attract $20,000-30,000 million investment in the next decade and has a massive potential for PPP investments. “We have plans to develop the world’s largest ring road—180-km-long—for $5,000 million,” Naidu says. Andhra Pradesh offers a large bouquet of opportunities for investments in the infrastructure sector with a single desk system for industries. “By 2022, our aim is to make Andhra Pradesh one of the top three performing states in India” he adds. The state will use seven missions, five grids and five campaigns to achieve this goal. “We have a land bank of 4 lakh hectares, are building a world-class capital city where Singapore and Japan are working with us, and are planning to give 20 MBPS to all the households,” Naidu says. “By making 24×7 power available, we will build the best ports, airports and cities,” he adds.
Having finalised Amaravathi as the name on the rationale that, in one stroke, a modern capital can be linked to history dating back 2,000 years—Amaravathi, which is about 32 km from the core capital region, was a major Buddhist centre—Naidu is now busy charting strategies for revenue mobilisation for funding his dreams.