In what could be seen as a face-saving gesture to the TDP government in Andhra Pradesh, which is under attack from the opposition for its alleged failure to prevail upon the Centre to implement all promises made to the reorganised state at the earliest, the Union government has sent a communique to it stating that it is releasing Rs 1,600 crore for now for construction of the capital city.

The ministry of urban development, headed by M Venkaiah Naidu, will release Rs 1,000 crore and the finance ministry Rs 600 crore.

While stating that the Centre had informed the state on Saturday about the release of the first portion of funds for the new capital city, a senior official said, “The amount of Rs 1,000 crore has to be used for  construction of key buildings such as the Secretariat, Assembly, Raj Bhavan and chief minister’s office; and Rs 600 crore for infrastructure development in the core capital.”

 Though the AP government sought Rs 20,000 crore, the Centre said it could provide money only for construction of important buildings in the core capital. The AP government a few days ago sent Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for each important building. And the release of Rs 1,600 crore might give some sort of relief to the state government which is under tremendous pressure from the opposition parties to extract more funds from the Centre. Union minister of state for science and technology and TDP leader YS Chowdary has been saying for several days that the Centre would release Rs 1,000 crore in the first phase.

With the Centre’s decision to release first portion of funds, the state government has decided to train the officials, who will be involved in the city’s construction. A Singapore team headed by Khoo Teng Chye, executive director of Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), is expected to arrive in Hyderabad on May 3 to hold the training programmes for AP officials for three days. “The Singapore government told us that they would complete the blueprint for the new capital much before the completion of the stipulated six months’ time. We expect the master plan to be ready by the first week of May,” the source added. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is likely to visit Singapore again, probably in the last week of April to  give final touches to the master plan.