Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed urban development should be seen as an opportunity, not a challenge during his inauguration speech for Andhra Pradesh’s new capital city Amaravati in Guntur district on Thursday, on the occasion of Dussehra. Modi is there to lay the foundation stone for the new city. The event was attended by ministers from Singapore and Japan, ambassadors from various countries, central ministers, chief ministers, governors and business leaders. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has promised that Amaravati will be a world-class “people’s capital”. The government of Singapore has prepared the master plan for the city, while Naidu is also seeking the partnership of Japan in building it, reported the Hindustan Times.

This is the first time ever that a capital city is being constructed in the country on parcels of land mobilised under the land-pooling concept, wherein the owners get a share in the property after development and cost-escalation, reported the Times of India. The owners will get back almost 30% of their pooled farmland as expensive city land, said the report. Opposition leader Jaganmohan Reddy said he will boycott the ceremony as “fertile lands were forcibly taken from farmers” for the city, but the government claimed that farmers had voluntarily donated over 30,000 acres of land and will be felicitating some of them at the ceremony.