Amaravati: The development of Andhra Pradesh’s capital city is set to accelerate as the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) has approved projects worth Rs 8,821.44 crore.
During a meeting led by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, the CRDA focused on road construction works in Amaravati.
Following the meeting, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) P. Narayana announced that of the total amount, Rs 3,807 crore will be dedicated to road construction in areas where land was acquired through the land pooling scheme. Additionally, Rs 4,521 crore will be spent on trunk roads and Rs 492 crore is allocated for building bungalows for Ministers and High Court judges.
In prior meetings, the CRDA had already approved projects costing Rs 11,471 crore, bringing the total approved projects to Rs 20,292.46 crore. Plans have been cleared for layouts covering 236 km in villages such as Nelapadu, Rayapudi, Ananthavaram, and Dondapadu, while 97.5 km of trunk roads has been approved.
Narayana noted that between 2014 and 2019, tenders were called for projects worth Rs 41,000 crore, but only Rs 5,000 crore worth of works were completed. He expressed concern that delays from 2019 to 2024 have caused construction costs to increase by 25% to 28%. He also highlighted that the costs of building construction have risen from 35% to 55%, stating that if Amaravati had continued as the capital, these costs would not have seen a 45% increase.
The tendering process for the new projects is set to begin by December 15 and will be finalized by the end of the month. Narayana also mentioned that the Chief Minister’s approval is required to re-invite the Singaporean designers due to pending legal cases against them.