Hyderabad: The AP government will invite global tenders to design and build its new world-class capital city.
The state-level advisory committee on the capital city is preparing a list of designers, urban development experts, architects and engineers among others involved in building world-class capital cities.
The committee members will get in touch with these experts and will prepare an “eligibility criteria” based on which global tenders will be floated by the state government.
Sources said global tenders will be invited only after the Centre-appointed Sivaramakrishnan Committee submits its report and a formal announcement is made by the AP government regarding the location of the new capital.
The Sivaramakrishnan Committee is likely to submit its report on August 20 and sources said that it may suggest over half-a-dozen locations in Seemandhra suitable for developing the capital, with their pros and cons.
Chandrababu Naidu: AP's capital will be at a central place,a committee is there working in that direction pic.twitter.com/8HOyXUeO2e
— ANI (@ANI_news) August 13, 2014Subsequently, the AP government will take a call on the location in consultation with the Central government. The “consultation” with the Centre is crucial as the latter has to release money for building the capital, in tune with the assurances made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Though Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has asked officials to shift some of the government offices and departments to Vijayawada, which will be a temporary capital until a final decision is taken, sources said that the AP government is strongly in favour of setting up its permanent capital city between Vijayawada and Guntur.
“Chief Minister Mr Chandrababu Naidu is of the view that if the new capital is developed between Vijayawada and Guntur or near these two cities, officials and employees coming to work in the capital city would not face problems in finding accommodation, schools, hospitals and other facilities which are available in Vijayawada and Guntur,” said a source.
Also, the government is looking at the possibility of merging Guntur and Vijayawada with the new capital city, making it larger than Greater Hyderabad in terms of geographical area. In such a case, the new capital will have everything for a vibrant economy and society, added the source.
