Amaravati development: AP new notification may delay the process.

A Court case challenging the award of development contract under the Swiss Challenge mode, and likely delays, have forced the Andhra Pradesh Government to consider fresh notification for development.

The process of new notification and possibly new approach may mean putting the clock back by a few months in not only scrapping the earlier notification dated July 17, 2016 but going through the fresh notification all over. Meanwhile, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to lay the foundation stone for some of the projects on November 1, at Raipudi in Amaravati area along the Krishna banks. Incidentally, November 1, in the past was celebrated as Andhra Pradesh Formation Day by the unified State.

The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) earlier in July had invited competing challenging proposals for the development of the seed capital area.

The move was challenged in the Hyderabad High Court by Aditya Constructions and another company questioning the approach of the Government in taking to Swiss Challenge mode for selection of the developer, contending that it lacked transparency.

Judge MS Ramachandra Rao of the High Court had stayed the proceedings declaring public interest was involved and required transparency. The petitioners had challenged the selection approach adopted by the Government which was based on a proposal by a Singapore based consortium Ascendas-Sunbridge pte Limited and Sembcorp Development Limited.

They had submitted a proposal for development of the seed capital area of 16.9 km, which was later revised to 6.84 sq km, to be developed in a joint venture with CRDA.

Following the order, the AP Government moved a Division Bench seeking early order in the petition so that they could go ahead with the construction of the capital.

However, when a Division Bench of the Hyderabad High Court comprising acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Durga Pradsada Rao was hearing the arguments, the Government informed their decision to withdraw the notification inviting counter proposals for the construction of the seed capital area.

At a meeting held on Wednesday, Chief Minister N Chandrababau Naidu reviewed the progress so far and wanted the construction of the administrative capital to be ready by 2018.

The Naidu government has already begun functioning from a temporary base in the capital region.

While the programme of the Finance Minister is yet to be finalised, there are indications that the foundation ceremony will be held at about 3 pm on November 1 wherein he will lay the foundation for RBI Bhavan, a major road network project in the new capital and a storm water drain project among others.

HBL