N. Chandrababu Naidu Revives Amaravati: Investors Show Renewed Interest

With N. Chandrababu Naidu back in charge in Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati, the planned capital city, is regaining investor interest. The new government, led by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has started resuming construction activities, attracting both domestic and foreign investors.

Several investors have already contacted the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) to express their interest. After a five-year hiatus, Amaravati is coming back to life as the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance won a landslide victory this month. Reaffirming his commitment to making Amaravati the sole state capital, Naidu visited the region last week to review various components of his ambitious project.

The APCRDA and state officials are busy preparing revised cost proposals to seek central assistance. With 16 MPs, Naidu’s TDP is a crucial partner in the BJP-led NDA government at the center, and he is likely to seek significant support to complete the project within two to three years. Concurrently, the Chief Minister is inviting private investors to Amaravati.

During a stopover in Bengaluru, Naidu met with top executives from Century Real Estate Holdings, inviting them to invest in Amaravati. The company’s Executive Director Ashwin Pai said they would decide soon. Additionally, the Australian Consul-General, Silai Zaki, visited Amaravati and discussed investment opportunities for Australian entrepreneurs with APCRDA Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar.

Naidu is keen to finish the projects that stalled in 2019 after the YSR Congress Party government proposed developing three state capitals. The Chief Minister is in talks with companies previously awarded contracts to resume work on various projects, including quarters for officers, ministers, and employees, as well as multi-storey apartments, government buildings, and roads.

Some buildings are near completion, and APCRDA officials believe finishing these works will rejuvenate the entire project and attract more investments. Naidu announced that a white paper on the Amaravati project status will be released soon and invited suggestions from the public, including NRIs, for developing the state capital.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for Amaravati in 2015, a project initiated by Naidu and master-planned by Singapore. Envisioned as a world-class city covering 217 square kilometers, Amaravati was designed to be not only an administrative capital but also an economic hub and tourism center. It initially attracted interest from investors in Australia, Japan, Germany, Singapore, and Britain.

Naidu’s plans require an estimated Rs 1.5 lakh crore, with Rs 38,000 crore worth of projects launched in 2018. However, work halted in 2019 when the YSRCP government led by Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy proposed three state capitals, causing uncertainty among investors. The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) withdrew their funding commitments, and a consortium of Singapore companies closed their startup project.

Naidu’s challenge now is to attract global investors to Amaravati once again. The newly appointed Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, P. Narayana, stated that the state capital works would be completed in two-and-a-half years, with the development of Amaravati in three phases costing Rs 1 lakh crore. The first phase was initiated by the previous TDP government for Rs 48,000 crore.