E-Paper
Tenders for construction of NRT Icon in Amaravati invited
The APNRTS on Thursday called for tenders for the construction of the 33-storeyed twin-tower building over a sprawling area of five acres at Rayapudi village, nearer to Krishna riverbank
After prolonged delay of nearly seven years and legal battles, the construction of iconic commercial complex – NRT Icon – proposed to be developed by the AP Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRTS), a state government-run organisation, at the capital city of Amaravati, will soon begin, people familiar with the matter said.
The APNRTS on Thursday called for tenders for the construction of the 33-storeyed twin-tower building over a sprawling area of five acres at Rayapudi village, nearer to Krishna riverbank. The last date for the submission of tenders is April 10.
“The tenders will be floated in three phases. At present, tenders have been called for the first phase which involves laying the foundation. In the next phase, tenders will be invited for the building’s superstructure. Following that, tenders will be called for the facade — the aesthetically visible part of the building — which includes elevation work and glass panel installations,” an official in the state ministry for NRI affairs, who didn’t wish to be named, said.
The twin-tower project has been estimated to cost around ₹600 crore and targeted for completion within two years, by 2028. “It will be built exclusively with funds from the non-resident Telugu (NRT) community and solely for their benefit. Both residential flats and office spaces will be sold only to NRTs,” the official said.
According to the project report made by the APNRT, the tower was designed with a shape “A” representing Amaravati. It was to have a total space of 900,000 square feet and every floor was planned to have an office space of 20,000 square feet. A mega convention centre which will be able to accommodate 5,000 people and a revolving restaurant at the top from where visitors could have a stunning view of the entire capital city of Amaravati were also conceived.
It was to have all other facilities including international standard shopping complex and other commercial activities, besides world-class auditorium, high-end classrooms with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment, sustainability features with water and energy conservation etc.
It was proposed that the companies set up in these office spaces will directly and indirectly generate employment for around 30,000 people, the report stated.
The NRT Icon project was originally conceived in 2018 and N Chandrababu Naidu, who was in power during that period, laid foundation stone for the iconic tower, then estimated to cost around ₹500 crore, at Rayapudi village on June 22, 2018.
According to the official quoted above, more than 100 NRIs from Andhra origin, staying in different parts of the world including the US, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, invested their initial money into the NRT Icon project. A total of 110 units, each comprising around 5,000 square feet, were offered for sale in the NRT Icon, of which 102 were booked.
“The NRIs paid booking amounts ranging from ₹10 lakh up to ₹2 crore. The APNRT raised ₹34 crore from the NRIs, mostly from the US, through these initial investments,” the official said.
However, with the change of government in May 2019, incumbent chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy dumped the Amaravati capital project. Instead, he proposed to develop three capitals for the state – executive capital at Visakhapatnam, judicial capital at Kurnool and legislative capital at Amaravati.
As a result, the NRTs began mounting pressure on the APNRT to refund their money. Though the Jagan government did not announce that the NRT Icon project would be shelved, the NRTs did not evince interest, as they realised that the tower would be of no value if the capital city doesn’t come up at Amaravati, former APNRTS president Venkat S Medpati said.
In January, 2022, 18 NRTs moved the state high court seeking refund of their money contributed in the form of initial investments for the construction of NRT Icon project, along with interest. “Even if Amaravati is continued as the legislative capital, it will not get the same grandeur as envisaged by the previous government. So, the NRT Icon tower can never come up,” the NRTs said in their petition in the high court.
“The APNRTS, however, could not return the money, as the government has not shelved the project completely. Out of ₹34 crore mobilised from the NRTs for booking in the complex, ₹21 crore had already been spent on purchase of land, securing various approvals, processing fees, payments made to consultants like KPMG and architects and advance payment to world-class builders,” Medpati said.
The APNRTS sent notices to the NRT investors saying that they would have to continue funding the NRT Icon project, and warned that if they didn’t do so, they would forfeit the initial investment. The NRT investors challenged these notices.
“The case is still pending in the court. Now that the Amaravati capital city project is picking up pace, and the APNRTS has called for tenders to commence the construction, the NRTs will continue with their further investments. So, they might withdraw the case in the court,” the official added.
