After a brief lull in the capital talk, chief minister Naidu is visiting Singapore on January 24. He is expected to hold high-level talks with Singapore officials and the companies involved in the preparation of Master Plan of capital city Amaravati.
While returning from Zurich, Naidu will make a stopover at Singapore for the crucial talks. He will be accompanied by finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Principal secretary, finance Ramesh Babu, CM’s secretary G Saiprasad and CRDA Secretary Ajay Jain.
Having received the Master Plan from Singapore companies, the state government has to appoint a master developer for the construction of capital city, to carry forward the capital project. According to sources in the government, the Singapore companies, in which Naidu is interested, are said to have laid stiff conditions to take up the project. So, for the past one month there has been no progress on the capital front, despite Naidu’s claims that China, Japan and Malaysia too are interested in involving themselves in the Capital project.
Now, Naidu, who is keen on clinching the deal, will arrive in Singapore on January 24. The capital project is getting delayed because of funding problem. The only option is Swiss Challenge method, in which the developer submits a plan to the government and the government, based on this invites similar plans from the other developers. Finally the government finalizes a developer based on the merits of the plans. Naidu is expected to negotiate on the conditionalities laid down by Singapore companies. Even though Supreme Court approved the Swiss Challenge method, a panel set up central government under the chairmanship of Vijay Kelkar categorically recommended that Swiss Challenge method should be discouraged.
