NCC, Shapoorji & Pallonji, and L&T to build five towers in Amaravati at ₹3,673 crore
The 48th Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) meeting, held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at the Secretariat on Monday, approved the selection of NCC Limited for the construction of the GAD Tower and Shapoorji & Pallonji and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for the construction of Head of Department (HoD) Towers 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 respectively at a total cost of ₹3,673 crore.
Announcing it in a press conference on Monday, Municipal Administration Minister P. Narayana said NCC emerged as the lowest bidder for the GAD Tower by quoting a sum of ₹882 crore, while Shapoorji & Pallonji and L&T were the lowest bidders for the HoD Towers 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 by offering to build them for ₹1,488 crore and ₹1,303 crore. The CRDA approved the issue of Letters of Agreement to them with the mandate to begin the works immediately.
The construction of these five administrative towers had begun during 2014-19 but had come to a grinding halt after the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) came to power. The NDA government now focused on their construction and cleared all the legal hurdles that came in their way. These towers were so planned that the Ministers and all HoDs concerned would be seated in the same building for the convenience of the public approaching them.
Amaravati airport
Mr. Narayana said the CRDA also gave permission for the construction of an international airport on 5,000 acres in the capital with a vision for the next 50 to 100 years. An airport of such scale was mainly essential for investors to easily travel to Amaravati, the Minister said, while pointing out that Mr. Chandrababu Naidu's decision to build the international airport at Shamshabad had been heckled by his critics but time proved them wrong.
Land for smart industries
Further, Mr. Narayana said the CRDA cleared the proposed allotment of 2,500 acres for smart industries in Amaravati that would give a fillip to the value of lands pooled from the farmers. Besides, an international sports city was planned to be developed, and it was decided to extend the rules and regulations applied to the original master plan of 217 square kilometres of the capital region, to more lands which the government contemplated to take through the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS). So far, farmers came forward to give 24,000 acres more under the LPS.
Additional funding
As far as external funding of the Amaravati project was concerned, Mr. Narayana said the government was hopeful of raising ₹5,000 crore from various banks and lending institutions in addition to ₹15,000 crore already sanctioned by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and ₹11,000 crore approved by HUDCO.
Asked whether the government was trying to rope in the Government of Singapore (GoS) for the development of Amaravati, he replied in the affirmative, while stating that the GoS officials who helped the A.P. government during 2014-19 in preparing the Amaravati master plan and related activities were sceptical due to bitter experience they had during the YSRCP regime.
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