Foundation stone for Andhra capital to be laid on October 22

The foundation stone for Amaravathi, the new state capital of Andhra Pradesh, will be laid on October 22, the government announced on Wednesday.

The state cabinet, which met here, decided to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone.

State minister for information and public relations Palle Raghunath Reddy told reporters after the cabinet meet that it was also decided to invite prime ministers of Singapore and Japan for the ceremony.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on June 6 had performed 'bhoomi puja' or ground-breaking ceremony of the new capital being built near Vijayawada.

Singapore has developed the master plan for Amaravathi while Naidu is inviting companies from Japan to partner with the state in building the world-class city.

The cabinet also approved the Vijayawada Metro Rail project, which will be completed by 2019.

The total cost of the project will be Rs.6,283 crore. While the central and state governments will provide Rs.866 crore each, a loan of Rs.3,600 crore will be availed from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The 26-km-long project will have two corridors with 25 stations. The metro will be linked to new capital Amaravathi.

The minister said the metro project would require 31.2 hectares of government land.