Singapore Government has named Gopinath Pillai, Ambassador- at- large as special envoy to Andhra Pradesh to advise the State Government on various issues pertaining to capital region development including capital mobilisation and tourism.
This was announced by Singapore Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs K. Shanmugam at a joint media conference he addressed along with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here on Thursday.
Mr. Pillai would give his advice on non-technical issues, while the joint working group set up by Singapore and A.P. Governments would deal with technical aspects.
Mr. Shanmugam said the first draft of the Master Plan for the capital region being prepared by the Singapore agency would be submitted by June to the State Government. "Based on the masterplan we can go beyond that," he added. The Government would move forward on the issue after studying the draft plan.
Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said that 25,000 acres had been acquired from the farmers so far. Of the 50,000 acres planned for the capital region, 37,000 acres would be from the farmers, while most of the remaining 13,000 acres belonged to the State Government.
On a suggestion from students and other sections, he said that the draft master plan would be posted on the website to seek views of the people.
