The concept of 'three capitals' is meant to thwart sub-nationalism in the future and build cities that make economic sense. It is backed by evidence of failed attempts to transform urban agglomerations into thriving cities at great costs, principal advisor to CM, Ajeya Kallam said.
Addressing a webinar on 'Decentralisation of three capitals' organised by YSR Congress Party Legal Cell on Sunday, Mr. Kallam said that Navi Mumbai, and a city in the Middle East, are the only two among 32 mega cities in the world that have flourished in the modern era due to their natural advantages.
Instead of pouring all resources into Amaravati, the government decided to decentralise capital functions, which was a model accepted by a plethora of committees right from the ones headed by Supreme Court former judge B.N. Srikrishna and ex-bureaucrat K.C. Sivaramakrishnan, observed principal advisor to CM, Ajeya Kallam.
The cost of construction of new buildings and creating related infrastructure in Visakhapatnam, which was planned to be shaped as the 'executive capital', was estimated to be a maximum of ₹5,000 crore, Mr. Kallam said.
The judicial capital (Kurnool) would require not more ₹1,000 crore, whereas Amaravati would gobble up ₹1,00,000 crore if the TDP Government's model was taken forward by its successor amidst a deep financial crisis.
There is abundant government land in Visakhapatnam and Kurnool, which brings down the land cost drastically.
As far as the 'legislative capital' (Amaravati) was concerned, it has been resolved to reduce the scale of projects in a manner that is proportionate to the actual requirement in accordance with the public works and finance codes.
Many projects in Amaravati had no financial closure as the then government acted as per its whims and fancies.
A study by a German think-tank proved that the cost of public services would be optimal only in cities having a population of less than a million.
Taking into account a whole lot of such technical and economic factors, the government conceived three capitals. It has done its homework and no expert in urban planning voted for what Mr. Sivaramakrishnan described as 'honeypot' model, Mr. Kallam added.