In a novel endeavour, the government of the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh is sending about 123 farmers to Singapore so that they can see how the land bought from them will be used for the development of the new capital Amravati and how they can become successful entrepreneurs by investing their newfound wealth.
The farmers who are being sent to Singapore are the ones who sold their land to the Capital Region Development Authority for the building of Amravati after Andhra Pradesh lost Hyderabad to new state Telangana after bifurcation. Notably, around 26,000 farmers gave up around 33,000 acres of land.
For the Singapore tour, Andhra Pradesh government has put up INR4 million (SGD 84,149) for the hotels and food while the farmers, wealthier after being compensated for their land, are paying for the ticket.
The farmers' group is expected to visit Singapore's Centre for Liveable Cities and the Singapore Art Museum. There will also be a session on construction laws for apartments.
About 34 famers left for Singapore in the first batch. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu, while addressing the farmers, said, “These farmers have created a world record by making a success of land pooling. They should learn how Singapore has developed and their best practices.”
There will be four batches and a total of 123 farmers will tour Singapore. Many have never gone abroad and were full of doubts.
K Adilakshmi, one of the woman farmer who was part of the team said, “I am happy that farmers are being made partners in the region that originally belonged to them. I am sure we will learn a lot from Singapore.”
A consortium of Singapore firms, Surbana Jurong, is the lead consultant for building Amravati in 20 years at a cost of INR550 billion (SGD 11.5 billion).
