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S’pore consortium to be master developer for Andhra Pradesh’s capital

SINGAPORE — A consortium comprising Ascendas-Singbridge and Sembcorp Development has been appointed to master develop the core commercial area of the Indian state Andhra Pradesh’s new capital city Amaravati.

(From left) Mr Neil McGregor, Group President and Chief Executive Officer of Sembcorp Industries and Mr Miguel Ko, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ascendas-Singbridge received the letter of award for the master development rights to the Amaravati City Start-up Area from Shri Sreedhar Cherukuri, Commissioner of Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) (standing far right). The ceremony was witnessed by Mr S Iswaran (third from left), Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), Shri Chandrababu Naidu (fourth from left), the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Mr Wong Kan Seng, Chairman of Ascendas-Singbridge, also attended the ceremony. Photo: Ascendas-Singbridge

(From left) Mr Neil McGregor, Group President and Chief Executive Officer of Sembcorp Industries and Mr Miguel Ko, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ascendas-Singbridge received the letter of award for the master development rights to the Amaravati City Start-up Area from Shri Sreedhar Cherukuri, Commissioner of Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) (standing far right). The ceremony was witnessed by Mr S Iswaran (third from left), Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), Shri Chandrababu Naidu (fourth from left), the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Mr Wong Kan Seng, Chairman of Ascendas-Singbridge, also attended the ceremony. Photo: Ascendas-Singbridge

SINGAPORE — A consortium comprising Ascendas-Singbridge and Sembcorp Development has been appointed to master develop the core commercial area of the Indian state Andhra Pradesh’s new capital city Amaravati.

The announcement was jointly made by Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu at the signing ceremony in Amaravati on Monday (May 15).

The Indian city of Amaravati is slated for development as a key centre for global investment and the land area for which the contract was awarded spans 6.8 sq km, which is located along the River Krishna waterfront.

The development of the financial district of the capital city will be carried out over 15 to 20 years, with projects for business, commercial and residential use.

The Singapore consortium, together with the Government of Andhra Pradesh’s Amaravati Development Corporation, will form a joint venture called Amaravati Development Partners, to develop the area, according to Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).

“This project will be one of the most significant by far both in terms of scale and the potential for greater mutual partnership and contribution of Singapore towards India’s broader development objectives,” said Mr Iswaran.

Amaravati will have a market of up to 10 million people by 2050, according to the MTI.

The state of Andhra Pradesh is one of the top three fastest-growing states within India, and Singapore companies will have opportunities to enter the market in construction, development and manufacturing, said Mr Iswaran.

“Our companies can get established in a market like Andhra Pradesh, and as they get familiar (with the environment), they can confidently navigate the terrain to gain further access to the wider market in India. We see significant opportunities there.”

Trade agency International Enterprise (IE) Singapore is leading a 20-member-strong business delegation to explore business collaboration in Andhra Pradesh, in conjunction with Mr Iswaran’s visit.

Singapore also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Andhra Pradesh for greater collaboration between the two cities in economic development and sharing of expertise in areas such as urban governance, security and education.

Mr Iswaran and Mr Naidu will co-chair a Joint Implementation Steering Committee for this purpose.

Amaravati is being built on land pooled from the villagers in the region, who will in return get plots of commercial and residential land in the city.

Andhra Pradesh has 10 years to build a new capital, after the Telangana region was separated from Andhra Pradesh to form India’s 29th state, taking along the former capital of Hyderabad.

Sembcorp Development and Ascendas-Singbridge have a strong track record in developing industrial parks and townships across Asia. In India, Sembcorp Industries’ focus is on conventional and renewable energy projects including thermal power in Andhra Pradesh.

Ascendas-Singbridge, which has a 20-year presence in India, has 10 million sqf of assets under management valued at some S$2 billion.

When asked about Singapore’s plans to participate in other Indian projects such as the 100 Smart Cities development and the Clean India movement, Mr Iswaran said that the focus will be on priority areas where the Singapore can contribute and make a difference.

Citing examples of Singapore’s involvement with the state of Rajasthan for capacity building in the tourism industry for Udaipur city and technical education collaboration with New Delhi, he said: “We have limited bandwidth… We want to make sure that where our resources are deployed, it can make a tangible impact.”

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