The seat of power of ancient Satavahana rulers, the centrally located Andhra city is promised to be a world-class and ‘people’s capital’
Where Past Meets The Present
■ Coming up on the Krishna river bank, the new capital has been named after Amaravati, an ancient town of the same name located 35 km from Vijayawada
■ The ancient town derived its name from Amareswara Swamy Temple, one of the Pancharamas in South India. The town and the neighbouring Dharanikota were once the Delhi of India, between 2nd century BC and 3rd century BC during the rule of the mighty Satavahanas
■ Amaravati continued to be the capital of many Andhra dynasties until the Mughal conquest
■ It was also a famous Buddhist centre
■ By naming the new capital after ancient Amaravati, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is keen on invoking the Telugu pride and attract investors from East Asia using the Buddhist connect
Rs.10-cr Deal Dropped
Though the preparation of the main venue, including stage, for the inaugural ceremony was originally awarded to Mumbai-based firm Wizcraft for Rs.10 crore, following criticism, Chief Minister Naidu entrusted the same to the administrations of Krishna and Guntur districts
Seed Sown for a global city
■ Singapore presented the seed capital master plan to Andhra in Rajahmundry on July 20. The last of the three-stage master plan for the capital.
■ As per the master plan, Amaravti will be developed as a smart, green, sustainable city and people’s capital
■ The seed or core capital is meant for three lakh residents. Seven lakh jobs likely to be created. The area of the seed capital is 16.9 sq km
■ Zones in the seed capital comprise central business district, residential township, parks, gardens, water bodies and so on
■ Transport hierarchy, comprising integrated network of metro rail of 12 km, bus rapid transit of about 154 km, down town road of 7 km, arterial roads and sub-arterial roads of 26 km and collector roads for 53 km, envisaged in the capital area
■ Walkways, pedestrianisation and walk to work environment are too part of the capital
■ Iconic buildings to include a state-of-the-art government complex, city gateway, cultural centre and convention centre
■ Innovative waste management systems to be in place
■ Seed capital area to be implemented on PPP mode
■ Important buildings like Assembly, Secretariat and Raj Bhavan would be constructed within the core capital area of 7,500 acres
Singapore of India
CM Naidu is thinking of constructing the capital on both sides of river Krishna. He wants a “Greenfield Capital City” with six-lane roads and underground cabling system.
7,068 sq km Extent of the metropolitan region of Amaravati
$30 billion projected investment in the new capital in the next 10 years
4,000 acres Will be reserved for parks to make it compete with Lutyens Delhi
Buildings of Assembly and Raj Bhavan to be architectural monuments
374 sq km Extent of the greenfield capital city
Ultra-modern facilities such as skyways, integrated fly-overs, high-rise towers, besides modern bridges across the river Krishna to promote tourism
1.3 cr Population expected in capital region by 2050
60 lakh Anticipated work force in the capital region
According to the blueprint, amaravati, which will be developed between Vijayawada and Guntur, besides being the seat of power, will be a commercial hub for industries