World Bank delegation meets Chandrababu Naidu, likely to support Amaravati project

Hyderabad: A four-member World Bank's team led by Senior Industry Specialist Raghu Kesavan, Gerald Paul Olivier, Chief Transportation Specialist, Qing Yuanchen, Senior Urban Specialist, and Abdelrazak F Razak, South Asia Urban Practice Manager, travelled to Amaravati last week and held a meeting with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday, raising hopes for World Bank support for Amaravati capital development in Andhra Pradesh.

The World Bank team visited several places in Amaravati. The visit by the World Bank team comes after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced to arrange Rs 15,000 crore through multilateral agencies for the development of Amaravati.

During Naidu's earlier tenure as Andhra chief minister, Raghu Kesavan led the 'Amaravati Sustainable Infrastructure and Institutional Development Project', which the World Bank approved with the Government of India as the borrower and Amaravati Development Corporation (ADC) and Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) as the implementing agencies.

However, after YSRCP came to power in 2019 and a change in priorities, the World Bank dropped the Amaravati project. While the total project cost was pegged at $715 million, at that time, the World Bank committed an amount of $500 million to provide select urban infrastructure in designated locations in Amaravati and to support the initial development of its institutional and governance structures.

During their three-day visit, the World Bank team held discussions with officials at the APCRDA office in Vijayawada and visited the Amaravati construction site to inspect the ongoing works.

In the capital region, they also visited the Kondaveeti Vagu lift irrigation pump house, roads, and other infrastructure projects. On Monday, the team met with Naidu at the Secretariat to discuss Amaravati's development progress.

Naidu outlined the construction of Amaravati as a world-class capital city, utilising modern technology and global standards. “The World Bank representatives appreciated the efforts and offered their support for the Amaravati project. Soon we can expect some positive outcomes,” said a senior government official.

On July 21, 2019, the World Bank issued a statement pulling out of the Amaravati project. “On July 15, the Government of India (GoI) withdrew its request to the World Bank for financing the proposed Amaravati Sustainable Infrastructure and Institutional Development Project. The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has been informed that the proposed project is no longer under preparation following the government’s decision. The World Bank continues to support the state of Andhra Pradesh with an over $1 billion program that covers the health, agriculture, energy, and disaster management sectors. This includes a new $328 million support for the state’s health sector signed with the Government of Andhra Pradesh on June 27, 2019. As the new government sets its development priorities, we stand ready to provide whatever support the state and the Government of India might request,” said the World Bank statement.