On Wednesday, Mr Naidu held meetings at his office in a temporary secretariat with all those involved in envisioning, designing and executing the building of the new capital city that is expected to cost Rs. 58000 crore. Among those who attended was Mr Rajamouli, who was to provide cultural context to the buildings being planned.
In mythology, Amaravati was the fabled capital of Indra, the king of gods. Mr Naidu's dream -- going by a bunch of blueprints he finalised after meetings today -- is equally ambitious. The blueprints show a city grander than Mahishmati -- the kingdom over which the protagonists of Bahubali plotted, murdered and battled: A glass and concrete extravaganza with soaring towers, huge lakes, squeaky clean pavements and trees that look like distant cousins of the red-leafed maple.
....
The Chief Minister also used the day to keep up a running commentary on development in the state. After the Prime Minister's sea plane ride on Sabarmati yesterday, Mr Naidu was seen doing a test run of a sea plane on river Krishna at Punnami Ghat, striking almost the same pose -- one leg at the aircraft's door. He then left for Delhi, to make a presentation to the Union water resources minister.
For Andhra Pradesh, the clock is ticking. When Telangana was carved out of it in June 2014, Hyderabad was made the joint capital of the two states. But at the end of a decade, it will function only as the capital of Telangana. By that time, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh needs to be up and running to make the transition seamless.
But lately, the state officials and even the Chief Minister has been heard saying that they were "in no hurry" since they were going to build "one of the top five cities in the world".
....
The city is being modelled on Singapore -- with two Singapore's government-appointed consultants preparing the master plan. International consultants and architects will provide the world-class touch. World famous names like Norman Foster and Hafeez Contractor will design the iconic buildings.