Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is in India for a Five Days Official Tour. Lee in a media interview went on to say that India is not as open for business as investors expect, citing land acquisition, over-regulation, and legal hassles among the biggest bottlenecks. He also referred to Amaravati issue going on currently.
“We are working on Amaravati… We gave the master plan and are bidding for the master developer contract. However, there is a legal issue going on the process right now but we are hopeful of getting the contract. We will help Andhra Pradesh and show the World what we can do,” Lee said. It is known that a consortium of Singapore companies Ascendas-Singbridge and Sembcorp Development Ltd have bid to develop 6.84 sq km of the capital’s core area.
Singapore companies have taken up a similar project in Gujarat to build an industrial park but it was abandoned some months ago over land acquisition wrangles. Singapore sees Amaravati Project as a huge opportunity to impress the Indian Economy and create new business avenues here.
The Singapore PM was to visit Amaravati in this trip but it was cancelled in the last minute as wrong signals will be sent about the PM trying to influence the government. Lee Hsien Loong is keen on visiting Amaravati if Singapore Consortium is able to win the bid. The next hearing of the case is posted to October 30th. The High Court will hear to government appeal on 15th.
