World Bank officials visit Amaravati capital region ahead of clearance of loan

A four-member team from the World Bank visited Amaravati capital region of Andhra Pradesh for two days to make a preliminary study of the works being undertaken to revive the capital city project by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the state led by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
The visit of the World Bank team on Saturday and Sunday comes in the wake of the announcement made by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman in the Union budget last month, that the Centre would arrange financial support of ₹15,000 crore to the capital city of Andhra Pradesh through multilateral development agencies during the current financial year.
Seetharaman later told the reporters that the assistance would be in the form of a soft loan from the World Bank and the Centre would facilitate this loan, besides considering extending part of the finances in the form of grant.
Refusing to divulge the composition of the World Bank team and the discussions it had held with the state government officials, a senior official of the urban development department in the state secretariat said top officials of the AP Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) had accompanied the World Bank team during the visit of Amaravati.
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According to an official release, the World Bank team, comprises senior infrastructure specialist Raghu Kesavan, lead transport specialist Gerald Paul Ollivier, senior urban development specialist Qingyun Shen and South Asia urban practice manager Abid Ali Razak F Khalil, held discussions with chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday evening.
The team members inspected unfinished buildings, including the residential complexes of All India Service officers, MLA and MLC quarters and villas of ministers and judicial officers, road infrastructure works including seed access road, SRM university and Kondaveeti Vagu pumping station meant for prevention of water logging of the capital region, the official said.
The World Bank team members have also enquired with the APCRDA authorities about the power supply, drinking water availability and underground drainage system in the capital area.
“The APCRDA officials explained about schools, public health centres, and projects to be taken up in Amaravati to the World Bank team,” the official added.
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“Naidu explained to the World Bank team his strategies on how to go ahead with the restoration of Amaravati capital project by adopting the best practices across the world and modern technology,” the official release added.
During the earlier stint of Naidu in 2017, the World Bank approved a US $ 300 million funding under Amaravati Sustainable Infrastructure and Institutional Development Project. However, even before the modalities of lending were worked out, there was a change of government in the state.
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In July 2019, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government indicated to the World Bank that it was not interested in the loan for the capital construction. On July 15, the World Bank’s board of executive directors declared that the proposed project of Amaravati was no longer under preparation following the government’s decision.