Astana to sign MoU with AP government for building new capital city.

Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who appears to be searching for modern architectural wonders in the newly built capital cities across the globe to replicate their elements in the construction of Amaravati, wants state’s capital city to be a carbon copy of Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

Naidu, who had earlier wanted to construct Amaravati on the lines of Singapore city, Tokyo, Istanbul and Beijing, at present appears to have been mesmerized by the architectural marvel of Astana, a river-front capital.

The chief minister, who spent second consecutive day in the Kazak’s First City on Sunday by visiting Bayterek tower to get a bird’s eye view of the core capital, has decided to form a joint working group with representatives from AP and

Kazakhstan to together work on Amaravati’s construction. The group will be headed by municipal administration minister P Narayana.

After watching the beauty of Astana from atop a 97-metre-high Bayterek tower, Naidu sought all possible help from the Kazak’s government. Following the request of Naidu, Astana’s local government came forward to ink a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government in this regard.

In order to increase the tourist traffic between Kazakhstan and AP, Astana Mayor Asset Issekeshev promised Naidu that he would speak to his country’s transport minister to introduce a direct flight from Amaravati to Astana.

“Astana and AP will soon ink an MoU to work together on Amaravati. The Mayor showed keen interest on sharing their experience with AP to construct Amaravati,” CMO officials stated.

“We will share where we did well and where we went wrong so that you can learn from our experience and avoid mistakes and improve your performance. We will work with you,” Issekeshev was quoted as as saying.

Earlier, Naidu told Issekeshev that he was in Astana as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after visiting Astana last year, had suggested him to take his cue from this futurist city. “I am very much impressed by seeing how Astana is built. I have seen almost the entire city and found it very beautiful,” the Chief Minister added.

“I would put this learning experience in building Amaravati. We must chalk out a roadmap on how to take forward our cooperation,” the chief minister told the Astana mayor, while asking him to visit Amaravati.

“I am interested in working closely with Astana in building Amaravati. Our cooperation shall not be limited only to the construction of the capital. There are many areas where Kazakhstan and AP can work together,” the chief minister further said.

The mayor told Naidu that more than 150 architects had worked for ten years on their city project.

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS