REPORTERS’ DIARY : Foreigners Unimpressed with Amaravati and fourth city

Foreign delegates keeping an eye on developments in Telugu states aren’t exactly thrilled about Andhra Pradesh’s Amaravati or Telangana’s much-hyped fourth city or Future City. The sentiment isn’t negative, but it’s far from positive either. The hesitation? A simple lack of trust in whether anything concrete will actually happen. A top Consulate official didn’t mince words – “these have largely been on paper.” And that pretty much sums up the scepticism surrounding these grand urban dreams. The message is clear: if both governments don’t get serious about building infrastructure in the next couple of years, these projects will become nothing more than a closed chapter in history. Hype can only go so far; eventually, the world needs to see bulldozers, cranes, and actual development – not just PowerPoint presentations and fancy proposals.