AP’s Smart Urban Vision Showcased at Barcelona Expo Delegates Applaud; Global Partners Seek Collaboration and Investment

In a high-profile presentation at the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) 2025 on Thursday in Barcelona, S. Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD), Andhra Pradesh, made a detailed presentation on the State's comprehensive urban transformation programme with a special focus on the transport and trunk infrastructure plan created for sustainable inter-modal transport for Amaravati.

The presentation continued AP's integrated approach to urban development—combining Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), circular economy principles, net-zero energy targets, electric mobility, advanced utility ducting, and eco-friendly building practices.

He explained how efforts are being made for positioning the State as a global example of large-scale, PPP-enabled sustainable urbanisation.

“Today we presented a vision that translates strategic planning into tangible, citizen-centric outcomes. Amaravati is designed not merely as infrastructure, but as an integrated ecosystem where mobility, utilities and environment cohere to lift living standards and enable inclusive economic growth,” Suresh Kumar said.

“We combine strong institutional mechanisms, bankable public-private partnership structures, and adherence to global sustainability benchmarks to deliver projects at scale.”

The Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), organised annually by Fira Barcelona — a public-sector enterprise jointly owned by the Government of Catalonia, the City of Barcelona, and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce — is the world’s largest and most influential platform for urban innovation and smart-city transformation.

The 2025 edition features representatives from over 850 cities across more than 100 countries, and over 1,100 companies and organizations exhibiting the latest advancements in mobility, infrastructure, energy, and digital governance.

AP's presentation underlined the key elements of the Amaravati transport and trunk infrastructure programme such as comprehensive road network, 320 km of trunk roads integrated with the regional highway network, supported by an extensive arterial and sub-arterial hierarchy designed to separate high-speed regional movement from local access.

Suresh Kumar stated that over 1,281 km of neighbourhood streets under LPS, paired with 2,360 km of stormwater drains, 2,239 km of water supply, 929 km of sewerage (11 STPs — 330.57 MLD), 2,318 km of reuse water network, and an extensive Power & ICT network (11,436 km).

He said dedicated corridors for BRT/metro, three major transport hubs (Tadepalli, Anantavaram, Nidamarru), 20 intra-city bus terminals and 11 depots, and modernization and expansion of rail connectivity including the proposed new Amaravati railway station are being developed.

The presentation drew widespread applause from international delegates, urban practitioners and investors attending SCEWC. Representatives from leading global cities, infrastructure firms, clean-tech vendors and development finance organisations congratulated the State delegation on the scale and clarity of its integrated planning approach.

Delegates signalled willingness to collaborate and explore investment in targeted pilot projects — particularly in areas of AI-driven mobility analytics, smart drainage and stormwater monitoring, net-zero energy systems, electric vehicle charging networks, and innovative PPP financing such as annuity and blended-finance models. Several global firms requested follow-up technical and commercial meetings to evaluate demonstrator projects in Amaravati and across Andhra Pradesh’s capital region.

Municipal Commissioners of Tirupati and Visakhapatnam Smart Cities Mourya Narapureddy and Ketan Garg attended.