Visakhapatnam: Six years since Jagan Mohan Reddy scrapped the plan to develop Amaravati with Singapore firms, the Chandrababu Naidu administration has now renewed its pact with the island nation to build ‘world-class governance systems’ and a ‘future-ready capital city’ through collaborative work on urban planning, human resource development and long-term sustainable economic development.
However, the agreement is a far cry from the arrangement Naidu had with the city-state during his previous tenure. Both Singapore and Andhra Pradesh officials confirmed to ThePrint that the Singapore consortium companies would not be involved in the Amaravati start-up area development as was the plan in 2017.
According to a strategic Memorandum of Understanding between the two governments, “Singapore will support Andhra Pradesh with advanced expertise in urban planning, integrated digital platforms, institutional capacity building and knowledge-driven economic growth, strengthening the State’s efforts to build world-class governance systems and a future ready capital city.”
The MoU was signed by IT Minister Nara Lokesh and Singapore’s Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Gan Siow Huang, in the presence of Naidu and Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, during the CII Partnership Summit 2025 in Visakhapatnam Friday.
Speaking to ThePrint later, Francis Chong, senior director, South Asia, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore, who was present at the event, said that the partnership will not be in the same form as earlier.
“We are doing several things in collaboration with Andhra Pradesh, including urban development that includes Amaravati, but our Singapore consortium companies will not be involved in execution of the capital project. That is unlikely to happen this time,” said Chong, a key figure in Andhra Pradesh-Singapore relations since 2014.
“Some unfortunate developments took place (during the previous regime) but we hold no grudges against anyone, we are not averse to anyone or any development initiatives,” added Chong.
Chong insisted that though public focus was largely on Singapore’s involvement in Amaravati, “Our co-operation with AP always extended much beyond Amaravati.”
“And anyway, you cannot have a city all by itself—there has to be an economic base, connecting with the rest of the nation and the world. We will respond and collaborate as per the needs, requirements determined by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.”
On the sidelines of the summit, on Saturday, P Narayana, AP minister for urban development too confirmed to ThePrint that the pact with Singapore this time is different. “Yes, the Singapore companies are not involved in Amaravati development now.”
In November 2019, months after his landslide victory over Naidu, then chief minister Jagan scrapped his opponent’s proposal to develop a Singapore-style financial hub in the planned city of Amaravati while shelving the entire capital project.
The Startup Area Development Project, to model Amaravati on the lines of Singapore, was to be developed by the Southeast Asian nation’s consortium and the Andhra Pradesh government on a 58:42 per cent equity-sharing basis.
Designed to serve as Amaravati’s investment catalyst, the project, planned in an area of 1,691 acres, was intended to create 2.5 lakh jobs, welcome 1.25 lakh families, garner tax revenue of about Rs 10,000 crore annually, and cumulatively contribute Rs 1.15 lakh crore to the state GDP by 2032.
A contract for this purpose was signed between Singapore and Andhra Pradesh governments in May 2017 and a Singapore consortium of Ascendas-Singbridge and Sembcorp Development was engaged as master developers for the project.
A special purpose vehicle, Amaravati Development Partners (ADP), was set up then with the state government’s Amaravati Development Corporation.
The YSRCP government, however, terminated the Startup Area Development Project in 2019 that Naidu had planned alongside the then Singapore minister for trade relations, S. Iswaran.
Despite the cost of “a few millions of dollars” because of the termination, the Singapore ministry of trade and industry had then said the “closure is based on mutual consent between the GoAP (Andhra Pradesh state government) and Singapore consortium”.
In his white paper on Amaravati released last year, Naidu said the MoU cancellation with Singapore consortium, along with all agreements, had resulted in loss of investment to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore.
The over Rs 1 lakh crore mega Amaravati project, Naidu’s blueprint to raise a greenfield, AI, tech-infused, world-class capital to rival Telangana’s Hyderabad and serve as truncated Andhra Pradesh’s growth engine, is stirring again with PM Narendra Modi reinaugurating the project works in May.
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‘Second chance’
During the MoU ceremony Friday, both Lokesh and Chong described the renewed partnership as “a second chance, expanding the scope.”
Since reassuming power in June 2024, Naidu has made several efforts to rope back Singapore, its companies to work in Amaravati development. In this endeavour, the NDA CM also toured Singapore in July.
“There was some setback (during previous regime). But again, I went back to Singapore to express regret, straighten the record and requested them to come back. I am very happy that Singapore government obliged and is now here to support our government in sustainable development, which is essential for our growing cities,” Naidu said Friday.
“We feel hurt, disappointed when our efforts in public interest face derailment. But we are putting things back on track now, and it gives me an amazing satisfaction,” said the CM.
Lokesh described the new partnership as “a 2.0 version, but stronger”.
“It is very important to take this relationship forward, while extending the scope,” the minister said while thanking Shanmugam for “giving a second chance”.
Union civil aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu, also present at the event, announced the re-introduction of flights between Vijayawada and Singapore three days a week. The flights, with then Naidu government providing a viability gap funding, were discontinued during Jagan’s tenure.
According to a press release, the MoU establishes a structured framework through which Singapore “will share its globally recognised expertise in public policy design, sustainable urban planning, digital governance transformation and capability development”.
“It aims to support Andhra Pradesh, particularly the development of Amaravati Capital City, through advisory missions, training programmes, joint working groups and capacity building initiatives,” the statement read.
Under the agreement, a Joint Implementation Steering Committee and a Joint Implementation Working Committee will be established to oversee the execution roadmap.
The cooperation will include expert deployments, deep dive workshops, training seminars, study missions to Singapore and advisory support from Singapore’s leading institutions including MTI Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore Cooperation Enterprise, the Centre for Liveable Cities, Urban Redevelopment Authority, National Park Board, Housing Development Board and Enterprise Singapore.
“The MoU reflects the shared commitment of both governments to adopt globally benchmarked best practices, develop world-class cities and create a strong digital governance environment as Andhra Pradesh accelerates its development trajectory,” said the statement.
(Edited by Shashank Kishan)
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