A corpus similar to the Collective Investment Fund (CIF) that supported the development of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar is one of the options that the State government is exploring to fund the construction of Amaravati.
Another possibility being examined is raising a fund from governments across the world through strategic tie-ups. It is proposed to be structured as the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
Taking stock of these and other funding plans for development of Amaravati which costs an estimated Rs.32,000 crore at a review meeting with officials of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) here on Wednesday, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu ordered that a detailed blueprint for tapping both national, and international financial markets like London and Hong Kong should be prepared.
He called for efforts to achieve cost-effective financing by consulting experts around the world and to factor in options such as sovereign funds, Masala bonds and NRI funds.
CRDA Commissioner Ch. Sridhar told the Chief Minister that CIF was a mechanism in which individual investors could buy units linked to assets in the same way as mutual funds.
Another focus area which was to generate adequate housing stock through Lease Rental Discounting (LRD) method was being examined.
Under the LRD system, the future lease rentals from the housing stock created would be securitised to approach relevant funding agencies for seeking upfront funding.
Mr. Chandrababu Naidu advised the officials to consider debt swapping method that would reduce the average cost of capital.
Going through a presentation by Antoni Vives Tomas, former deputy mayor of Barcelona, on what takes an emerging city like Amaravati to become a vibrant metropolis on the lines of the Spanish Olympic city, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said the facilities should be such that the city would compete for international sports events.
Mr. Naidu instructed the CRDA officials to reach out to global players who would enable Amaravati to become a vibrant sports city.
Ministers Yanamala Ramakrishnudu and P. Narayana, Principal Secretary (CRDA) Ajay Jain and Amaravati Development Corporation CMD Lakshmi Parthasarathy were among those present.
