Making a Singapore in India, 12 things you didn’t know about Andhra’s capital ‘Amaravathi’

AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu recently said that the government will focus on building Amaravati, the ‘city of gods’, as the best city of the 21st century. In a press interaction he said, “The capital is not only for administrative purposes… it should be dynamic and also have economic activity.”

He also said, “Singapore prepared the master plan according to what we have in our mind; by and large the master plan is okay.”

We take a look at the things that will define the new capital. 12 of them to start with.

1.  Amravathi, is the ancient capital of the Satavahanas in the Vijayawada- Guntur region. Reports have it that ‘vastu balam’ and ‘peru balam’ was kept in mind before naming the new capital region.

2.    Situated on the banks of the Krishna, the ancient city takes its name from the Lord Amareswara temple within its precincts. It was once also known as ‘Dakshina Kashi’.  (Kashi of the south).

3.    Amaravathi has a plethora of touches with Buddhist significance.  Legend has it that Lord Buddha once visited, besides King Ashoka and Chinese traveller Hsuan Tsang.

4. The Chandrababu Naidu government has acquired 33,000 acres of land for the new capital.

5.  Amaravathi is being developed through a partnership with the Singapore government.  The master plan is being prepared by Surbana International Consultants and Jurong Consultants, both Singapore-based agencies.

6. The Singapore government has appointed a diplomat of Indian origin Gopinath Pillai as its envoy to Andhra to oversee the project. The new capital will also incorporate “ideas from Japan”.

7.  Per the draft master plan, the Amaravathi Capital Region will be spread across 7,325 sq km. The core capital will extend up to 125 sq km, The core capital will come up by 2018.

9. The capital region between Vijayawada and Guntur will include two ring roads — a regional expressway, and a 220-km long outer regional expressway— and several radial roads including capital city bypass and Vijayawada bypass.

10.  Gannavaran airport (in Vijayayawada) will be  developed into an international airport. A spanking new airport to be built in Mangalagiri, 20 km away. A third airport is likely to be constructed in Karnool in Rayalaseema region.

11. Kakinada-Pondichery canal, Machilipatnam-capital canal, Rajahmundry to Badrachalam canal, and Capital to Nagarjuna Sagar in river Krishna, to be developed as inland waterways for transportation and tourism.

12.   The Amaravathi capital region, which has a current population of 5 million, is slated to be inhabited by 11 million people by 2030; and a whopping 20 million by 2050.