Amaravati Singapore vision గురించి CBN అబ్బదాలు , మోసాలు

[andhra_jp]

How Chandrababu Naidu’s Singapore vision for Amaravati has got him in a legal tangle

Ahead of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, TNM looks at some key evidence submitted by CID against Chandrababu Naidu. One of these is how he skipped protocols to enlist the help of Singapore companies to develop Amaravati.

 

The origins of Amaravati as capital and promise of a new ‘Singapore’

Chandrababu’s plan was straightforward. The greenery was to be replaced. “It soon became evident to me, activist Medha Patkar, former bureaucrat EAS Sarma and several others that there wasn’t going to be even a drop of agrarian character in designing the capital,” Devasahayam said. “Ecological planning of an urban city was replaced by a deluded need to transform Amaravati into a new ‘Singapore,’” said Sarma. 

How protocol was bypassed

However, one of the main pieces of evidence unearthed by TNM, according to the affidavits filed in the court, is a letter from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on October 25, 2022, telling the CID that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) (which later became an agreement) between International Enterprise Singapore and the Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (INCAP) was not considered as an MoU between two governments. 

Contract signed between APCRDA and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise

 

International Enterprise Singapore (IES) was a statutory body under the Singaporean government’s Ministry of Trade and Industry. INCAP, on the other hand, is a corporation set up by an act of the Andhra state legislature, which works on developing infrastructure in the state via the Public Private Partnership model.

“Protocol dictates that a state government should consult the Union Ministry of Urban Development, who in turn would have consulted the Ministry of External Affairs while bringing on board a foreign company,” said Sarma. The letter dated December 5, 2014, showed that the AP government wrote to the MEA for approval at 4:30 pm, following which permission was granted at 5 pm. The rushed job, which Sarma dubbed ‘highly irregular and risk prone’ was made worse amid allegations that Chandrababu and Narayana lied to the Andhra cabinet by presenting it as an agreement between two governments instead of it being one between two independent entities. 

Further, the MEA, while granting approval, had asked the TDP-led government to seek the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs comments and views on the agreement. In a letter to the CID dated 17 August 2022, the Urban Affairs ministry told CID that they hadn’t received any such letter. In essence, the CID alleged that the TDP government skipped protocol while entering into an agreement with a foreign company. 

Similarly, the manner in which Ascendas Singbridge and Sembcorp were selected was condemned by the AP High Court. The Andhra government went for a Swiss Challenge method; wherein a government invites bids for a public project, and then publishes the bid, before inviting competing counter proposals to either match or better the initial proposal.

In September 2016,  following a petition filed by Aditya Housing and NVN Engineers challenging the government's decision to adopt the Swiss Challenge model, Justice MS Ramachandra Rao of the Hyderabad High Court stayed the process and directed the state to file its response. “The entire process suffers from illegality and procedural impropriety apart from arbitrariness, jeopardizing public interest,” Justice Ramachandra Rao noted.

[andhra_jp]

Who benefitted from the Singapore companies?

The MoU was ratified by the AP government on April 22, 2014. As part of the agreement, a Singapore company, Surbana Jurong, was roped in to design the master plan for Amaravati, while the seed capital area of 1,691 acres would be designed south of the Krishna river by a consortium involving Singapore’s Ascendas-Singbridge and Sembcorp. Together, they were called the Amaravati Development Partners (ADP). 

Chandrababu and Narayana were accused of awarding the initial table designs for the capital’s master plan on a nomination basis. CID officials alleged that the companies were closely guided by the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) in designing the master plan to benefit Naidu, Narayana and Lingamaneni. While the awarding of contracts had to undergo a bidding process, the TDP government went against it and nominated the Singapore companies.

The argument made by the TDP government was that they had to return the reconstituted land that was procured under pooling by 2018. With the deadline in mind, the state argued that Singapore company Surbana Jurong’s expertise in urban design was ideal as they could carry out their thought to the detailed level without distortion.

In its Compliance Audit Report for March 2021, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said that while the APCRDA argued that they were empowered to sanction works and investments, this wasn’t the case. “..APCRDA Act does not absolve the authority to obviate compliance to existing rules of tendering procedure,” it noted. 

“Foreign companies and governments understandably, don’t approach a state government without a vested interest,” Sarma told TNM. The sentiment was further noted by retired professor of the Center for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) Chigurupati Ramachandraiah in an article for Down to Earth, where he noted that the Concession and Development Agreement (CADA) signed between the government and ADP allowed Ascendas Singbridge and Sembcorp to have access to contiguous land stretched free from all encumbrances. 

Naidu has also faced allegations of arbitrariness in fixing the price of land under its share. While the APCRDA had fixed the base price at Rs 4 crore to 4.1 crore per acre of land in Amaravati, land was allotted for as low as Rs 35 lakh per acre to select private entities. Chandrababu had earlier agreed that the reconstituted land would be given to farmers, who contributed to land pooling. However, the CID alleged that no reconstituted land could be in the seed capital area as it would be “commercially unviable for the master developer, aka, Ascendas Singbridge.”  In other words, the seed capital project was made very viable for Ascendas Singbridge.

All key offices including the governor and chief minister’s residences would be set up in the seed capital area. The CID alleged that among the three options presented by the master planner, Narayana chose the option which ensured appreciation of 55 acres of land he controlled through benami purchases.

But that’s not all. Former Reuters in charge of Asia-Pacific media business, Lee Kah Whye, noted that over 1,200 companies supported by Enterprise Singapore were enticed to invest in AP. “MOUs were also signed with Singapore firms Erect Group, CKR Group and ByBiTech to bring Singapore technologies and solutions to the Amaravati Construction City. Together, it was reported that Singapore companies have committed over USD 3 billion into projects related to the city (Amaravati).”

 

 

[andhra_jp]

How was Amaravati affected? 

In May 2017, EAS Sarma wrote to the AP Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary and the Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister, arguing that aside from “enabling a foreign company to deliver the benefits, the project also adversely affected the economy.” 

“There are many indirect costs to the economy on account of diversion of the agricultural lands for a non-agricultural purpose such as erosion of food security and loss of livelihoods for the farmers and the dependent population,” he argued. 

“The State has made no attempt to assess the impact of the project on food security. Therefore, diversion of such a large extent of fertile agricultural land for a non-agricultural purpose also violates Section 10 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013,” he wrote. Sarma also added that despite calling for international competitive enquiry for this project, there has been no response.

“This shows that either this project is inherently non-viable or the prospective bidders, both domestic and overseas, were under the impression that the Singapore Consortium was anyway the favourite of the political leadership of the state and there was no point in their devoting time and effort in responding to the enquiry,” he noted.  

When asked at the ISAS conference how the Singapore companies would benefit, Chandrababu remarked that AP had an effective government and he could give clearances for companies across the table. “I met with eight companies the previous day, and they said, ‘We don’t want anything, we are willing to compete’. They asked for quick approvals, and I assured them speedy clearance of all documents would be given across the table, and I assured them of transparency,” he said.  

Sarma argued in his letter that as per the AP Infrastructure Development Enabling Act, the government should make public the agreement chronicling the range of risks between the government and the developer. “Since the public is the major stakeholder, the details ought to have been disclosed to them by now. To the best of my knowledge, the disclosure requirement, as envisaged in Section 4 of the RTI Act, has not been complied with,” he wrote. The transparency Chandrababu spoke of did not apply to the people. The Andhra electorate was chiefly unaware of the happenings around Amaravati construction. 

The TDP also had to keep the farmers at ease. To do so, a programme titled ‘Farmers First’ was constituted. The APCRDA stated in a March 2018 report titled ‘Amaravati Project: Edition 3’ that 123 farmers were sent to Singapore in batches of four to gain “knowledge of urban construction, economic opportunities of urban economy” between October 2017 and February 2018. 

 

Seetharamaiah, a farmer from the Kamma (forward caste) community, gave up his 6.5 acres of land in Guntur’s Thullur mandal. He was one of the farmers who visited Singapore as part of the ‘Farmers First’ programme. “The peace, the lack of pollution in the environment was remarkable. It cannot possibly be replicated here. But I was even more impressed when the government took us to Magarpatta township in Pune,” he said. Magarpatta was a township born out of pooling farming lands from 120 families in 1993 and is touted to be highly successful, as the land has been urbanised, but the title remains with the farmers. 

“I am still waiting for Amaravati so that I can start my business. The YSRCP-led government hasn’t helped us,” he added. He, along with other farmers, hopes for Chandrababu’s return to power so they can get higher prices for their land. 

Singapore’s Amaravati Partnership Office (APO), an entity established by the Singapore government, coordinated the visits to ensure that farmers ‘learnt best practices in business and entrepreneurship.’

 

[Keth]

enduku bhayya time waste chesukuntunnav meeru overtime work chesina jagan gelvadu lite teesukondi

jagan iche chillara teesukuni time pass cheyyandi

[andhra_jp]

1 hour ago, Keth said:

enduku bhayya time waste chesukuntunnav meeru overtime work chesina jagan gelvadu lite teesukondi

jagan iche chillara teesukuni time pass cheyyandi

jagan gelichina vodina Andhra assam laaga vundi as amaravati malli reborn avutundi anee innocent crowd vundi vuntaaru valla kosam...   basically amaravati is financially & legally dead project.

[vetrivel]

1 hour ago, Keth said:

enduku bhayya time waste chesukuntunnav meeru overtime work chesina jagan gelvadu lite teesukondi

jagan iche chillara teesukuni time pass cheyyandi

Lol extra yellow rice swiggy coupon gajji pacha paytm pigs

[Telugodura456]

Endhi picchi raathalu. Sarma gaadu protocal lo mistakes unnai ani pattada ? that batch has lowest respect for work. Gudi antha nuvvu kattina chokka esukuni gudi looki vacchav - protocal dobbindhi and antha poindhi antu kattu kadhal cheppi raddhantam chese batch adhi.

Mana daridram aa batch ki antha power undadam.

[Keth]

14 minutes ago, andhra_jp said:

jagan gelichina vodina Andhra assam laaga vundi as amaravati malli reborn avutundi anee innocent crowd vundi vuntaaru valla kosam...   basically amaravati is financially & legally dead project.

you will see in next two years which is dead project

meeru ila hallucinations lo amaravathi lo brick padaledu ane concept tho undandi last time chesina tappudu pracharam laaga

oka simple question bro-- jagan amaravathi lo okka building kattaledu mari paripalana etta chesadu antav ee 5yrs?? amaravathi lo brick padaledu ga mari 2019 naatiki?

[andhra_jp]

7 minutes ago, Telugodura456 said:

Endhi picchi raathalu. Sarma gaadu protocal lo mistakes unnai ani pattada ? that batch has lowest respect for work. Gudi antha nuvvu kattina chokka esukuni gudi looki vacchav - protocal dobbindhi and antha poindhi antu kattu kadhal cheppi raddhantam chese batch adhi.

Mana daridram aa batch ki antha power undadam.

You can continue to live in hallicunation ignoring ground reality and financial situation that this graphic amaravati will one day be reality 

 

[andhra_jp]

1 minute ago, Keth said:

you will see in next two years which is dead project

meeru ila hallucinations lo amaravathi lo brick padaledu ane concept tho undandi last time chesina tappudu pracharam laaga

oka simple question bro-- jagan amaravathi lo okka building kattaledu mari paripalana etta chesadu antav ee 5yrs?? amaravathi lo brick padaledu ga mari 2019 naatiki?

Bro,  i am pro development and does not support 100% socialist govt like NTR , Jagan ...

But i am saying given all data available how much we beat our chest so called amaravati is done for good.

Quote

Being billed as the largest bond issued from a local authority, Amaravati Bond 2018, is meant to fund the building of the new state capital for Andhra Pradesh. The bond was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday.

It is a 10-year issue, offered at a fixed interest rate of 10.32 per cent per annum, to be paid quarterly. The bond comes with a 5 year moratorium on principal payment, which can be redeemed on yearly basis for next 5 years at 20 per cent rate every year. The issue, worth Rs 2,000 crore, is guaranteed by the government of Andhra Pradesh and this has been emphasised in the note released by the state government and perhaps with a good reason. As the question arises about the available options for the state to repay the amount, which already has a debt to GSDP of 28.4 per cent (4 percentage points higher than the permitted limit).  

https://www.businesstoday.in/opinion/alchemy/story/amaravati-bonds-and-andhra-pradesh-debt-challenges-108905-2018-08-31

 

Quote

Naidu had proposed a scheme where farmers voluntarily surrendered their land in exchange for developed land in the city.

But today, nothing has been built on the vast amount of land procured from farmers. Even roads and basic infrastructure like drainage and power lines are yet to be put in place. Barring an interim government complex with a Legislative Assembly and a Secretariat, there is nothing.

 

The big reason has been Mr Naidu's personal obsession with grandiose designs and obsessions for historic legacy.

 

With not even a design for the first of the buildings in three years, Mr Naidu approached filmmaker Rajamouli, whose mythological epic, Bahubali, set in a fantastical city, was a huge hit. He was roped in to go to London and advise the architects on finer design elements. The movie director confessed to his own inability to play a role in designing a city but Mr Naidu's critics say he ploughed on regardless.

Mr Naidu then approached the World Bank for a loan of 38 billion rupees ($535m; ‎£411m) and India's building authorities for another 75 billion rupees. All borrowing failed to match the huge capital costs needed to even start building the city of his dreams.

 

 

Meanwhile, the government of India capped its funding for Amaravati at 15 billion rupees, barely adequate for building the governor's house, high court and legislative assembly besides a few other administrative offices.

Given the state's poor financial condition, Mr Naidu had no option but to find creative ways to raise funds.

 

One such experiment was a crowd-sourcing effort to raise emotional equity around the city. Dubbed "My Brick, My Amaravati", the government asked people worldwide to buy e-bricks at 10 rupees. After several campaigns to promote it, all it had was about 227,000 donors buying 5,708,905 e-bricks.

 

In a first of its kind, the cash-starved state government issued high interest-assured long-term Amaravati bonds on the Bombay Stock Exchange and raised 20 billion rupees. At a grand function, where the bonds were oversubscribed 1.53 times, Mr Naidu announced he planned to raise an additional 100 billion rupees soon.

 

So buoyed up was Mr Naidu by the response by institutional investors to his bonds, that he outlined a grand vision.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-45294283

 

[Pavanonline]

13 minutes ago, Telugodura456 said:

Endhi picchi raathalu. Sarma gaadu protocal lo mistakes unnai ani pattada ? that batch has lowest respect for work. Gudi antha nuvvu kattina chokka esukuni gudi looki vacchav - protocal dobbindhi and antha poindhi antu kattu kadhal cheppi raddhantam chese batch adhi.

Mana daridram aa batch ki antha power undadam.

Highlight emtante the article acknowledging success of something similar in pune. 

Malli oka region meeda edisi gelavali anthe vella agenda.

[andhra_jp]

6 minutes ago, andhra_jp said:

You can continue to live in hallicunation ignoring ground reality and financial situation that this graphic amaravati will one day be reality 

 

 

Lol,  street view images are copied from some random street from australia... so much for the visionary CBN!

At 8min 49sec video that street image is lifted from 70 George Street Cnr Paterson St, Launceston TAS 7250,Tasmania,Australia .. Just observe the cow symbol and the name of the shop Black Cow Bistro

 

See this google map https://www.google.com/maps/place/70+George+St,+Launceston+TAS+7250,+Australia/@-41.4354226,147.1396468,3a,90y,282.79h,81.47t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXm88ESxDnYutPS2KeW_CPQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0xaa70a6de22e64acf:0x24f9a6de805f1444!2s70+George+St,+Launceston+TAS+7250,+Australia!3b1!8m2!3d-41.4353898!4d147.1395028!3m4!1s0xaa70a6de22e64acf:0x24f9a6de805f1444!8m2!3d-41.4353898!4d147.1395028

 

 

 

[Telugodura456]

4 minutes ago, andhra_jp said:

 

Lol,  street view images are copied from some random street from australia... so much for the visionary CBN!

At 8min 49sec video that street image is lifted from 70 George Street Cnr Paterson St, Launceston TAS 7250,Tasmania,Australia .. Just observe the cow symbol and the name of the shop Black Cow Bistro

 

See this google map https://www.google.com/maps/place/70+George+St,+Launceston+TAS+7250,+Australia/@-41.4354226,147.1396468,3a,90y,282.79h,81.47t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXm88ESxDnYutPS2KeW_CPQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0xaa70a6de22e64acf:0x24f9a6de805f1444!2s70+George+St,+Launceston+TAS+7250,+Australia!3b1!8m2!3d-41.4353898!4d147.1395028!3m4!1s0xaa70a6de22e64acf:0x24f9a6de805f1444!8m2!3d-41.4353898!4d147.1395028

 

 

 

"LOL ...no builder ever produces graphics ..it violates protocols ..lol lol lol" - muyyara jaffaga.

Its long over for this kind of trash talk. It is not as clever as you think it is.

[andhra_jp]

1 minute ago, Pavanonline said:

Highlight emtante the article acknowledging success of something similar in pune. 

Malli oka region meeda edisi gelavali anthe vella agenda.

something similiar kaadu that township in Pune was just in 450 acre and it started in 2000 and still under development!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magarpatta

Imagine the massive proposed amaravati capital and its financial burdens and timelines considering its over exacerbated designs and high expenses incurred!!

Basically CBN should have started in a small scale and gone for incremental expansion ?

[Telugodura456]

5 minutes ago, Pavanonline said:

Highlight emtante the article acknowledging success of something similar in pune. 

Malli oka region meeda edisi gelavali anthe vella agenda.

region meedha edavaali ..malla adhe region ni taxes meedha padi thinali.