FOCUS: AMARAVATHI - PEOPLES CAPITAL
AMARAVATHI
The Smart Convergence of Tradition & Modernity
Sadagopan Seshadri
Chief - Content Development, CE - Infrastructure - Environment
The Masterbuilder | September 2015 | www.masterbuilder.co.in
Embodiment of Smartness Quality in Liv-
ing, Working & Leisure
Amaravathi the new Andhra capital is
a grass roots upward development and
has many promises doing the rounds on
what a magnum opus it is going to be. No
doubt a lot of fan fare has become only nat-
ural with any such announcement always
coming being accompanied by 'great pro-
nouncements as well'; And so it is with
Amaravathi which seems to be going to
unravel the 'Smart convergence of Tradi-
tion blended with Modernity, delivering the
best of both worlds to the citizen.
So it is no surprise that AP Chief Min-
ister Chandrababu Naidu recently said
44
that the government will focus on building
Amaravathi, the 'city of gods', as the best
city of the 21st century. In a press interac-
tion he said, “The capital is not only for ad-
ministrative purposes... it should be dyna-
mic 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.”
So here on, let's take a look at the fac-
tors that will define this new capital in terms
of tradition history background and plans
to blending it with sustainable smart ur-
banism that balances culture retention with
progress & inclusive growth holistically.
Amaravathi - Tradition, History & 'Vastu!
Amaravathi is the ancient capital of the
Satavahanas in the Vijayawada-Guntur re-
gion. About 350 kilometers from Hyderabad,
Amaravathi is also known as Amaresh-
varam. The Amareswara Temple in
Amaravathi houses a massive lingam.
Situated on the banks of the Krishna,
the ancient city takes its name from the
Lord Amareswara temple within its pre-
cincts. It was once also known as 'Dakshina
Kashi'. (Kashi of the south).
Reports have it that 'Vastu Balam' and
'Peru Balam' were kept in mind before
finalizing it as the new capital region.
This erstwhile capital of the Satava-
hana Dynasty, it is believed to be one of the
most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage site in
India. As a tourist destination Amaravathi
 FOCUS: AMARAVATHI - PEOPLES CAPITAL

is especially famous for housing the larg-

est Stupa in the country, known as the
Mahachaitya Stupa, which was built in the
2nd century. Discovered by a British ar-
cheologist, Colonel Collin Mackenzie in
1797 the Stupa is now a must visit attrac-
tion during a tour to Amaravathi . The Stu-
pa found in this region dates back to the
times of Emperor Ashoka.
Amaravathi has a wide selection of
many famous Buddhist carvings, murals
and panels. The mounds of Dharankota,
on the west of Amaravathi, Nagarjuna-
konda and Amaravathi together form the
popular Golden Triangle of Buddhism in
Andhra Pradesh.
Amaravathi has a plethora of touches
with Buddhist significance. Legend has it
that Lord Buddha once visited this place.
The same is said of King Ashoka and Chi- Figure A. Amareshwara Temple

nese traveller Hsuan Tsang.
In a way Figure A & B may well be
seen as Amaravathi's identity.
Amaravathi - Smarting Urban Development
Amaravathi is being developed through
a partnership with the Singapore govern-
ment. The master plan is being prepared
by Surbana International Consultants and
Jurong Consultants, both Singapore-ba-
sed agencies. Their joint media statement
embodies the tasks to be carried out by
the two agencies with project stages as
well as deliverables. The inputs by Andhra
government are listed as well.
The key highlights of the Seed Capital
Area (SCA) Master Plan of the Capital City
which will catalyse the development of
Amaravathi:
1. The Seed Capital Area is planned for
about 3 lakh residents. Being developed
development principles. To provide and
enhance mobility and accessibility to the
citizens, the master plan provides a trans-
port hierarchy that comprises of an inte-
grated network of metro rail network of
about 12 kms, bus rapid transit of about 15
kms, downtown road of about 7 km, arte-
rial roads and subarterial roads of about
26 kms and collector roads of about 53
kms, with varying broad rightofways.
6. The city being planned on sustain-
able development principles, extensive
large open green spaces have been planned
that shall add value to the urban ecosys-
tem. The landscape would create world
class aesthetic appeal to make city livable
and attractive.
7. Special emphasis has been laid to
enhance development of extensive walk-
ways and pedestrianisation interlinked
with open and green spaces with a blue
and green network of more than 25 kms
to promote walktowork environment and
nonmotorised transport.
8. The iconic developments will in-
clude stateoftheart government complex,
city gateway, cultural centre, convention
centre etc.
9. The Seed Capital Area master plan
provisions for waste management sys-
tems that would enable innovative meth-
ods for waste collection, transportation,
treatment and resource recovery such as
Waste-to-Energy, thereby creating a re-
sourceful, safe and healthy city.
10. The Seed capital conserves more
than 40% of the green areas and the blue
areas in the seed capital sprawl over 50%
of the Seed Capital.
11. The Seed Capital Area develop-
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as a vibrant business hub, a total of about

7 lakh jobs are expected to be created in
various sectors including government jobs.
2. The Seed Capital Area aspiration is
to create a thriving state of the art Central
Business District (CBD) for business and
living.
3. The Seed Capital Area master plan
provides nodes and development corri-
dors from transit oriented development
approach.
4. The various zones would comprise
of central business district, residential
townships, institutions, parks and gar-
dens, water bodies, recreational spaces,
water front etc.
5. In line with the Capital City, the Seed
Capital Area is planned on transit oriented
45

Figure B. Amaravathi - On Buddhist Golden Triangle

 FOCUS: AMARAVATHI - PEOPLES CAPITAL
Green Plan
The master plan designed by the
Singapore government for AP's new
capital Amaravathi marks 21% of the
total area of 217 sq. km for a green
network. It envisages creating 5.6
million jobs in the city and its
environs that will be home to 13.5
million people by 2050.
Urban growth corridors
Central mega city
River
Forest
Capital city
Existing key city
Key city outside capital
region boundary
Potential tourism centre
Potential logistic centre
Agriculture protection zone 1
Agriculture protection zone 2
Future city expansion area
Priority development corridors
Ring road / city bypass
National highway
State road
Airport
Reserve for future airport
Port
Planning boundary
Figure 1. Masterplan Amaravathi
Vijayawada
Capital
City
Mangalagiri
er Ring R
I nn
Figure 2. Locational Amaravathi - Masterplan
ment will be implemented on Public Pri-
vate Partnership by selecting job creation
and investment partner.
See Figure 1 &2 Master Plan layout of
the Capital City and figure 3, 4 &5 on Capi-
tal layout view, manmade water bodies/
fronts and the beach road respectively.
See figure 6 depicting investment pockets
identified. Master Plans 1(Green) & A (2050
& beyond) show detail plan with legend.
The three part Amaravathi master
plan developed by Singapore's Surbana
Jurong Private Limited also drew on Sin-
The Masterbuilder | September 2015 | www.masterbuilder.co.in
gapore's expertise and experience in ur-
ban planning and governance and project
execution. See box 1 for 'The 3 part
46
Figure 3. Capital View Andhra Pradesh
Figure 1A. Amaravathi Capital Region 2050 & Beyond
Amaravathi Master plan' as declared by
the planners.
The Centre for Liveable Cities and Sin-
gapore Cooperation Enterprise has begun
to provide capacity development training
in various areas for Andhra Pradesh gov-
d ernment officials who will be involved in
oa
the development of Amaravathi and the
Capital Region.
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”.
As 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 and will come up
by 2018. The Chandrababu Naidu govern-
ment land acquisition is supposed to be
33,000 acres of land for the new capital.
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
Figure 4. AP Capital Manmade Lake
AP CAPITAL REGION PLAN
(Year 2050 and beyond)
Legend
Existing Urban Area
Proposed Urbanized Area
Proposed Industrial Zone
Proposed Airport Area
Development Corridor
Forest
Dedicated Freight Corridor
High Speed Rail
Suburban Rail
Proposed HSA \ DFC Station
Major Railway Station
Airport
Port
National Waterway 4
Barrage
Agriculture Protection Zone 1
Agriculture Protection Zone 2
Future Urbanizable Agriculture Land
State Highway / Major Road
National Highway / Expressway
Planning Boundary
Capital City Boundary
Capital Region Boundary
River
and Vijayawada bypass.(see figure 1, 8,9 &
10 as indicative)
Gannavaran airport (in Vijayayawada)
will be developed into an international air-
port. 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.(see figure 1 &1a for
Green & 2050 plans)
Kakinada-Pondichery canal, Machili-
patnam-capital canal, Rajahmundry to
Badrachalam canal, and Capital to
Nagarjuna Sagar in river Krishna, to be
developed as inland waterways for trans-
portation and tourism.(see figure 1,3 & 4)
The Amaravathi capital region, which
has a current population of 5 million, is sla-
ted to be inhabited by 11 million people by
2030; and climbing to a 20 million by 2050.
The Revised Plan - Entrusting Surbana &
Jurong
Concept Master plan stage being
over, the AP government though had in-
vited global tenders for the revised mas-
ter plan, it withdrew its move on global ten-
 FOCUS: AMARAVATHI - PEOPLES CAPITAL

Mega Business
City & Trade
Hub

World Class
Capital City

Future
Aerotropolis

Agriculture
& Agro
Based Culture,
Industries Literature
& Textiles
Source: Draft presentation on Master planning of AP Capital City prepared by Surbana & Jurong

Figure 5. Amaravathi Beach Road Figure 6. Capital with investment Sites

ders. With this change of mind, it allotted
the task for preparing the revised master
plan for the state capital, Amaravathi, on
nomination basis to the Singapore firm,
Surbana.
Now Surbana, one of the two consul-
tant firms based in Singapore that had pre-
pared three concept master plans for the
capital city, will also come out with the re-
vised master plan. This new master plan
will contain details about the developed
land parcels to be allotted to farmers, who
hadparticipatedinthelandpoolingscheme.
Sources said that experts from the
Singapore-based firm will stay in Vijaya-
wada to complete the assignment. "Sur-
bana has agreed to prepare the revised
draft master plan. We will allot the work to
the firm on nomination basis. The process
will begin soon," said Nagulapalli Srikanth,
commissioner of the Capital Region Dev-
elopment Authority (CRDA).
The Singapore firm took about six mon-
ths to prepare the designs for the new capi-
tal city in association with the CRDA. The
master plan was submitted in July. No
fees were charged for the master plan.
The revised master plan will focus on
the development of seed capital area cov-
ering 16.9 sq km area. It will also include
designs for the entire capital city and the
capital region. The master plan for the
seed capital includes government build-
ings and the central business district.
Singapore has expressed interest to
participate in the development of the new
capital. Surbana has agreed to design the
revised and detailed master plan for the
new capital. According to officials, a team
of experts from Surbana will also prepare
the master plan for allotment of devel-
oped plots to the farmers, who gave up
their land for Amaravathi.
Once the revised master plan is ready,
farmers will know where exactly their com-

3 STAGE MASTER PLAN OF SURBANA & JURONG WITH JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT

Joint Media Statement: Surbana and JURONG International Appointed as Masterplanners for
Andhra Pradesh's New Capital City (12 January 2015)
Andhra Pradesh, India - Surbana International Consultants (Surbana) and identifying potential growth opportunities in jobs and sectors for the client's con-
JURONG International were appointed today as the master planners for the sideration.
Andhra Pradesh (AP) new capital city and surrounding region. The announce-
Stage 2 (Capital City Masterplan): Produce a pragmatic and world class city
ment made by Mr S Iswaran, Minister, Prime Minister's Office and Second Min-
masterplan
ister for Home Affairs and Trade & Industry, jointly with AP Chief Minister
The Masterbuilder | September 2015 | www.masterbuilder.co.in

Chandrababu Naidu, signals the start of AP's development plans.
This landmark project will inaugurate the first large-scale international collabo-
ration between Surbana and JURONG International that will see their combined
expertise in urbanisation and industrial development solutions respectively.
Both home grown consultants; the team will also pool their knowledge and expe-
rience garnered from more than 20 completed projects in India. Drawing from
the Singapore-inspired planning model, we will ensure the Singapore brand
remains as an international showcase for masterplanning.
With over 7,000 km2 of land use for the AP capital region, the urbanisation is pro-
jected to impact a population of 49.4 million. The scope of the Capital Region
Plan will progress in three stages:
Stage 1 (Capital Region Plan): Establish a strategic direction
For the first stage, Surbana and JURONG International will review existing plans
and data for integration into the planning process. The end goal is to produce an
efficient land use masterplan that incorporates commercial, residential, public
facilities, transport and infrastructure.
We will also provide an analysis of demographic and economic drivers, while
48
Surbana and JURONG International will propose a Capital City Masterplan for the
capital city spanning over 125 km2. The concept plans will include proposals for
water, power and transport infrastructure development, zoning plans to identify
specific zones for predominant land use as well as residential density distribu-
tion. It will also include proposals for locating urban centres, residential, indus-
trial and mixed use developments.
Stage 3 (Seed Development Masterplan): Produce a seed development
masterplan with the objective of attracting investments
The final stage will involve developing a Seed Development Masterplan to detail
urban design solutions for start-ups and test-bed sites covering an area of about
8 km2. Surbana will propose a mix of industrial and services developments, and
translate into broad land parcels. The plan will also include finer details such as
open spaces, pedestrian and traffic circulation.
Surbana and JURONG International will work closely with the government of
Andhra Pradesh to deliver a masterplan that meets its economic and social
objectives in the years to come. This is one of Surbana's largest concept master
plans to-date while JURONG International is honoured to be given the opportu-
nity having completed projects in both Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.
 FOCUS: AMARAVATHI - PEOPLES CAPITAL
Figure 7 It is a 'Master' Plan Prudence in every way!
Figure 9 Unhindered mobility water-road-rail networks
mercial and residential plots are located.
"We have requested the Singapore firm to
complete the process within 45 days. It
has agreed to station a team of experts in
Vijayawada that had earlier operated from
Hyderabad," CRDA officials said.
Surbana will now take inputs from the
recommendations made by a high level
meeting of expert consultations held re-
cently in Vijayawada. Once the master plan
is redefined, it will be available for public
debate. The government is legally bound
to put the master plan before the general
public seeking objections or suggestions
if any.
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'Amaravathi is envisaged to be devel-
oped as smart, green and sustainable city.
In the line of being developed as the Peo-
ple's Capital of Andhra Pradesh, our aspi-
ration is to create a vibrant, diverse, inclu-
sive and modern city which will be a sym-
bol of pride for the people of Andhra
Pradesh and India,' CM Naidu said.
'My heartfelt thanks to the Govern-
ment of Singapore for their dedication and
fast pace of work. October 22, 2015 has
been decided as the day of laying founda-
tion stone for Amaravathi. We need to
begin ground work from that day.
Amaravathi is a project which is being
watched by people across India,' Naidu
said.
50
S Iswaran, Second Minister for Trade
Figure 8 It is a 'Master' Plan Thought out layout
Figure 10 Unhindered mobility - road network Arterials
and Industry, said, 'This is where, the be-
ginnings of a great city will be established
and Singapore is honoured to play a small
part, through the master plans for Ama-
ravathi. However, our partnership with
Andhra Pradesh will begin from this point
by assisting them in the development of
capital city. We will continue to collabo-
rate on development of Amaravathi.'
What Do Surbana, Jurong, Temask Mean
to India?
The real question is, are we hiring the
'right fit' for the job? Right fit means maxi-
mizing compatibility in critical aspects
technological, financial/economical, geo-
socio-cultural. For this answer 'due dili-
gence' is a condition precedent, but here
we can at the most look at these aspects
to have a feel of necessary 'degree of com-
fort' of being in right professional hands
compatible to or expectations. This should
include the 'soundness as on date' and ter-
rain familiarity. In different ways Surbana
or Jurong have had and continue to have
their quite presence in India Chennai,
B'lore, Kerala and even Kolkata. Since it is
becoming evident that this group could be
a very strong contender for future urban-
ization plans including 'Smart Cities' laun-
ches, it is important to make a visit into the
group's credentials historically and on-
date. As for Singapore per se it can safely
be imagined to be culturally close and
technologically superb too! Now let's see
what platform these companies were
occupying & what they today are?
Surbana has been known to be an
award-winning international urbanisation
consultant, offering full-service building
consultancy solutions, including integra-
ted sustainable design solutions in archi-
tecture, engineering, quantity surveying,
project and construction management,
coastal engineering, infrastructure and
land survey, urban planning, building tech-
nology and city management.
Over the last 50 years, it successfully
planned, designed and completed more
than a million homes across 26 townships,
and reclaimed almost 10% of Singapore,
providing holistic living environments with
amenities such as parks, schools, mixed-
use developments, roads and commer-
cial projects for over 80% of the island's
population.
Growing from a Building and Devel-
opment Division of the Housing & Devel-
opment Board (HDB) in sixties to solve Sin-
gapore's housing crisis by evolving affor-
dable and quality housing for a growing
population its mandate was to alleviate
Singapore's severe housing shortage. This
it did commendably by successfully cre-
ating a world-class public housing model
which has re-defined the standards of su-
 FOCUS: AMARAVATHI - PEOPLES CAPITAL
Figure 11 Modernity is balance with nature water, land and air
perior and affordable living spaces. Ever
since its corporatisation in July 2003,as
HDB Corporation Pte Ltd (HDB Corp) it
has been in volved in export Singapore's
decades of urbanisation expertise and ex-
perience to other countries including star-
ting to venture into the China market.
HDB Corp was acquired by Temasek
Holdings, the Singapore Government's
investment vehicle rebranded as Surbana
Corporation Pte Ltd in 2005.
The Merger: Surbana International &
Jurong International Completed (10 June
2015)
Surbana International Consultants
Holdings Pte. Ltd (“Surbana”), and JURONG
International Holdings Pte Ltd (“JIH”) com-
pleted the merger between the two com-
panies. The merged companies, to be
named later, is jointly owned by Temasek
Holdings ('Temasek') and JTC Corpora-
tion ('JTC') with a 51:49 shareholding.
The Masterbuilder | September 2015 | www.masterbuilder.co.in
On 16 February 2015, Singapore in-
vestment company Temasek and JTC, the
lead government agency responsible for
the development of industrial infrastruc-
ture to support and catalyse the growth of
industries in Singapore, had announced
that they had entered into an agreement
to merge four of their operating subsid-
iaries, Surbana, JIH, Ascendas Pte Ltd
('Ascendas') and Singbridge Group Pte
Ltd ('Singbridge'), into an integrated plat-
form for sustainable urban development.
The merger brought together Surbana's
experience as the former technical and
commercial arm of the Housing and Dev-
elopment Board and JIH's experience as
the technical and commercial arm of JTC.
52
Both companies were key drivers in Sin-
gapore's urbanisation, industrial and in-
frastructure programmes over the 50
years of national development history the
merged company is a powerhouse for
urbanisation, industrial and infrastruc-
ture development equipped to offer com-
plete value chain, one-stop professional
services to the development industry. The
merged company can be utilized for ur-
banisation, industrial infrastructure dev-
elopments and smart cities initiatives as it
has abundant resources to offer high value
planning, design and engineering services
in the development industry.'
The Surbana-JIH Merged Company
can deliver total urban, infrastructure and
engineering solutions to support social
and economic growth.
This Asian consultancy powerhouse
for urbanization, industrial and infra-
structure developments, besides distin-
guished track record in shaping Singa-
pore's landscape over the last 50 years,
has successfully completing a wide array
of projects in over 51 countries across 167
cities. The tally reads as more than a mil-
lion homes in Singapore, completed mas-
terplans for over 30 countries and devel-
oped 49 industrial parks around the world
with 20 offices across Asia, Africa and the
Middle East.
Delivery Essence of Merger Package
This integrated platform creates
greater scale and synergies, and provides
flexibility and nimbleness in pursuing pro-
jects across the entire urban development
value chain. The merged group's aggre-
gate value is approximately S$5 billion
based on underlying entities.
- Ascendas-Singbridge, Surbana-JIH to
capitalise on growing opportunities in sus-
tainable urban development
- Ascendas-Singbridge will take on an
asset investment & holding role;
Surbana-JIH will provide building & engi-
neering specialist services
- Merged group will offer end-to-end
solutions in integrated sustainable urban
development
- The merged group will be jointly owned
by JTC and Temasek through a 49:51 part-
nership.
The four subsidiaries will be reorgan-
ised to create two independent operating
arms one to invest and hold assets, and the
other to provide building & engineering
specialist services.
Ascendas and Singbridge, the asset
investment & holding arm, will originate,
aggregate and provide urban solutions.
Surbana and JIH will form the building &
engineering specialist services unit, ena-
bling sustainable solutions through tech-
nology.
Given the complementary nature of
the four businesses, their employees can
expect to benefit from new opportunities
across multiple business or market seg-
ments, which will allow them to develop
new expertise and broaden their skills. The
enlarged group will therefore enable the
four subsidiaries to develop, cultivate and
retain their talent pool over the long term
with mutual benefit of all- company, cli-
ents & employees.
Amaravathi - The Controversy Gallery
Very few projects take off without wri-
thing out of controversies - true, imaginary,
provoked and so on and so forth. Amaravathi
is no exception. Issues abound, stretching
from,
- Questioning the very Law created for
'creating the capital'!
- Suitability of Land for city building
- Land Acquisition matters relating to
tariffs, transparency, no consent on high
yield land
- And plenty more, that shall be a fall out
of these and related controversial issues.
This will include revised master plan put
for public debate.
Having said this, as of now the Andhra
Government is going steady with the plans
while some issues too are easing out as
concerned agencies and authorities are
 FOCUS: AMARAVATHI - PEOPLES CAPITAL

tackling them head on! While we can pay a ointed by the centre had already submit- ment clearances, had asked the Ministry
visit to some of these which will show that ted its recommendations for the new capi- of Environment and the AP government to
efforts are on and sorting out matters on tal, but the state had passed the AP Capi- respond, giving time up to August 28. The
track, what has to be ensured is that no talRegionDevelopmentAuthorityAct,2014. National Green Tribunal (NGT) has
hurdles in terms of 'mal-intentioned trip- As per the provisions of the Act, the extended time till September 18 for the
ping-spanners & spokes spook the right- state government had empowered itself Union Ministry of Environment to file coun-
ful implementation. At the same breath it to declare the capital city and capital re- ter to the petition of Pandalaneni Sriman-
needs to be enforced that transparency gion area. This, he said, was in contraven- narayana. As regards the state govern-
and public good is ensured by all agencies tion of provisions of both the Constitution ment The Capital Region Development
and the powers that be. and the AP Reorganisation Act. The peti- Authority has filed a counter denying that
It is in this context necessary to see tion said that the Act does not have the the land earmarked was earthquake or
what's going on on some contentious issues assent of the President of India. flood prone.
that any way raise their ugly heads in most A bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and
Land Acquisition
infrastructure projects! Justice Amitav Roy of the Supreme Court
has declined to entertain the plea seeking Land acquisition started off from far-
Supreme Court Rejects Plea on New Capi-
quashing of a law enacted by the Andhra mers in villages where land has been ac-
tal City
Pradesh government for creating a new quired by the government under land pool-
A Law 'AP Capital Region Develop- capital city. ing scheme and where land acquisition
ment Authority Act, 2014'was enacted by notices have been issued.
NGTIssueonSafety-DisasterProneLand?
the Andhra Pradesh government for cre-
Farm Land Yes, Habitat Land No!
ating a new capital city. A writ petition was The NGT, in response to a petition filed
filed by retired IAS officer M.G. Devasahayam by one Mr. Srimannarayana, against the But now the reason to worry for villag-
seeking to declare as unconstitutional the development of a new capital for Andhra ers is that the government is getting ready
law passed in December. Mr Devasahayam, Pradesh allegedly in 'flood and earthquake to reclaim not only farm lands but even the
in his petition, said an expert panel app- prone area' and without proper environ- grama kantam village habitation lands in
villages where farmers had constructed
What they said: houses. The discontent of farmers and
their opposition is to acquisition of habita-
Mr. Wong Kan Seng, currently the Chairman of Singbridge, will be the Chairman of the asset investment tion lands as these were not in purview as
& holding arm, while Mr Miguel Ko, Executive Director of Singbridge, will take on the role of CEO.Mr Liew far as villagers are concerned.
Mun Leong, currently the Chairman of Surbana, will chair the building & engineering specialist services
arm, with Mr Wong Heang Fine as the CEO. High Yield Ones Not to be Acquired
Mr Wong Kan Seng, Chairman of the asset investment & holding arm, said, “Urbanisation trends in Another move that has become con-
emerging markets hold significant investment potential and opportunities for Singapore companies. troversial is the state government implic-
Through this integrated platform, we will have better scale and deeper expertise to handle many large- itly forces farmers to part with their fertile
scale and complex urban development projects. Our established relationships with local governments land where they raise high value crops. No
and business communities will enable us to develop urban solutions that can effectively address specific
local initiatives and requirements across the region.”
farmer will be prepared to part with such
fertile land secured them a steady income
Mr. Liew Mun Leong, Chairman of the building & engineering specialist services arm, said, “If we are to for generations, all through, rain or shine.
lead and manage major urbanisation and infrastructures building in developing countries both within and Farmers of these 10 villages includ-
outside Asia, we need to build up a wide range of core competencies in a one-stop technical organisation. ing, Undavalli, Penumaka and Nidamuru,
We also need expanded scale and varieties of technical challenges to attract talented and creative engi-
The Masterbuilder | September 2015 | www.masterbuilder.co.in

have been resisting the government's move

neers, architects, planners and technologists who can think beyond conventional practices to build the
to “forcibly” acquire their land and have
next generation of global cities and their infrastructures. This merger of Surbana and Jurong International
will expeditiously create the right platform and scale to attract and retain the best brains in the building opted out of land pooling scheme, saying
and engineering professions. This build-up of core expertise and distinctive skills will create in the they earned four- fold more than the gov-
merged entity an international building and engineering consultancy powerhouse to meet the fast grow- ernment's package including developed
ing and more complex needs of the development industry in Singapore and overseas.” land.
Though the government so far has
Mr. Miguel Ko, CEO of Ascendas-Singbridge, said, “The merger between Ascendas and Singbridge
been playing down the importance of this
allows us to play an important role in driving economic and social development in urbanising cities. By
leveraging each other's capabilities to address gaps and strengthen existing competencies, we will be a
stretch of land spread over 10 villages, the
stronger player that can develop best-in-class urban and business space solutions tailored to specific enterprising farmers here have in some
needs of target industries and demographics.” cases, raised six floriculture crops a year.
Bethapudi farmers grow tonnes of onions,
Mr. Wong Heang Fine, CEO of Surbana-JIH, said, “Surbana and JIH have complementary strengths in the shortage of which is now bringing tears
infrastructure technology and engineering solutions. This combination allows us to grow our suite of to people.
building & engineering capabilities across similar and differentiated sub-segments, with an increased
pool of talent, enhanced resources and deepened regional penetration. By integrating the planning, archi- 'Flip Flops' to 'Out-of-Box'
tecture and engineering capabilities of Surbana and JIH under one roof, we can offer a wider range of solu-
tions as we pursue larger projects on the world stage.” Every time the government tried to
54

invoke LA Act provisions it ran into trouble

 FOCUS: AMARAVATHI - PEOPLES CAPITAL
and its flip-flop showed up. No sooner it
had issued Government Order 166 on May
14, notifying exemptions from provisions
relating to preparation of social impact
assessment report and safeguarding irri-
gated multi-cropped land in the amended
LA Act ( Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition, Reha-
bilitation and Resettlement Act 2013), it
was challenged in Hyderabad High Court.
The government till then holding veiled
threats, took a u-turn and told the court on
May 21, that it will not issue any follow-up
notification.
Surprising as it has invoked its emi-
nent domain powers vested in the Land
Acquisition (LA) Act to take over 3,892
acres straddling 10 villages when it has over
25,000 acres pooled land already under its
possession to start the work on building
the capital.
It seems that apparently the reason to
acquire part of this land is to build a few of
the landmark public buildings in some of
these river front villages. It is amusing as
to why such structures could not come up
in places where land pooling is over or why
government should not wait till the farm-
ers who traditionally cultivate more than
three crops a year are fully convinced. It is
difficult to convince farmers who are pros-
perous perennially with fertile lands to for-
sake it. It is unethical too. The solution is to
put up the structures elsewhere where no
such sacrificing of fertile land is involved
and government has in possession by
acquisition pooling plenty of it.
In any case taking over the multi-
cropped fertile land from determined far-
mers should not be allowed. Good sense
should prevail with government intros-
The Masterbuilder | September 2015 | www.masterbuilder.co.in
56
Figure 12 ; After Amritsar A Golden Temple in Andhra too
pecting on absurdity of losing such ever-
lasting resource. Therefore it should set
example by tweaking capital city plan to
accommodate largely city- bound crops
in these fertile multi crop lands, show-
casing this as part of a self-sufficient sus-
tainable capital smart city model.
Grand 'Foundation' Politics
The tearing flurry and hurry with which
Andhra Pradesh government started with
pushing through land acquisition process
in the capital region may have yet another
reason. An important one doing the rounds
is the fast approaching grand foundation
laying ceremony for the capital slated for
Vijaya Dasami on October 22. Now what
makes it extremely significant is Chief Min-
ister N. Chandrababu Naidu has confirmed
the participation of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi while he had personally invited Japa-
nese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the big
event. And with a 200 crore Golden Tem-
ple foundation laying lined up, the grand
ceremony is also be the showcasing of a
great tourist revenue puller as it will be
next only to legendary Amritsar golden
temple. (see Figure12)
Hence with 'all of 33,000 acres' as al-
ready in possession of the government could
send stronger signals for presenting the
green field capital as an absolutely safe &
attractive investment destination thus kick-
start the capital building propelled by in-
ward investment to the state kitty.
What a 'Golden' Note to Sign Off!
PM Narendra Modi and CM
N.Chandrababu Naidu are expected to lay
the foundation stone for the first Golden
Temple in Andhra Pradesh which will be
built by the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON) on October 22
on the occasion of Dashehra. The ISKCON
temple will be constructed in 80 acres of
land near the Kondaveedu Fort area in
Guntur.
A rare 13th century idol of Venna Mudda
Gopaludu belonging to the period of Sri
Krishnadevaraya was found in the 1998
excavations in Kondaveedu. This inspired
ISKCON to build the temple with an esti-
mated budget of 200 crore budget on this
land which was donated by the State En-
dowments Department. The authorities
have already built the cow sheds and star-
ted rearing the cows at the Goshala.
ISKCON is planning this ambitious
temple on par with the Amritsar Golden
Temple and Sripuram goddess Lakshmi
Golden Temple. The temple dome and the
sanatorium would be coated with pure gold
and an international school, a religious
theme park, Kondaveedu Museum, a Vedic
school, a medical centre and a cow pro-
tection centre will be built in the temple
complex.
The complex is expected to turn out to
be a major tourist attraction as well.
All seems set for Amaravathi to
bloom soon! 
Author's Bio
The author leads our Delhi bureau. An
Engineer and qualified ADR profes-
sional (NALSAR alumnus), Sadagopan
Seshadri has been a senior Contract
Management Professional in large
national & International Companies.
His domain experience is in Building
Products, Cement plants and Mega
Power project execution. He has been
an expert visiting faculty and univ. exam-
iner for Contract Management at the
SSAA, IP University, New Delhi.
Being passionate about Environment he
has now turned to Landscape Projects
design teamed with like-minded archi-
tects & engineers for sustainable land-
scapes development He is vocal with
his views on these areas through his writ-
ings.
He can be reached at:
design2xcel@gmail.com