The neighboring city of Vijayawada, had the highest expectations with announcement of world class capital Amaravati next door. But today their hopes and aspirations have fallen flat.
Efftronics, is a company in Vijayawada, working in the area of providing smart and innovative solutions for Smart Cities and buildings. With proposal of a world class, smart capital and promises made at the time of bifurcation, every industry expected to grow. However, industry insiders say, with lack of incentives and an ecosystem, high cost employment generation companies have failed to come.
Speaking to CNN-News18, D Rama Krishna, Managing Director of Efftronics, said, “In 2014, when the new government had come, there was a lot of aspirations from both Centre and state. Everyone thought a new era has begun. That’s why people came out and voted. But in today’s political situation, people feel things are going wrong and their aspirations are not fulfilled. The type of funds Centre is talking about is peanuts for capital construction. There is disappointment; anger is growing. If there are no incentives, why would any company shift its base in our state?”
The Centre had sanctioned Rs 2,500 crore for capital development, out of which only Rs 1,500 crore was released.
The only striking change is the power centre of Andhra Pradesh, which has shifted its base from Hyderabad. The government for past many months has been functioning from Amaravati. A huge complex comprising of secretariat and legislative buildings, assembly & council, has been constructed, which is buzzing with activity.
The hotel industry also had high hopes and people in the city also expected employment generation with the industry boom. But with capital construction making no headway, the hotel industry is “waiting and watching”.
C Sujith, general manager at popular Fortune Murali Park hotel told CNN-News18, “We are seeing upgradation of the city, but the process not happening as expected; it’s slow. When hoteliers want to invest, they see the returns should be favorable. We had expected many hotels will come, but capital region work is not going at fast pace. It will take a lot of time to compete with other big cities.”
With Hyderabad going to Telangana after bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh was left with no capital of their own. The critical concern for Andhra Pradesh is that it has to compete with developed cities like Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad in southern India.