STATUE OF UNITY
The Statue of Unity is a monument dedicated to Indian independence movement leader Sardar Vallabhbhai Pateland is located on the river island called Sadhu Bet facing the Narmada Dam near Rajpipla in Indian state of Gujarat. The monument with its surroundings occupies over 20,000 square metres, and is surrounded by a 12 square km artificial lake. It is the world's tallest statue with the height of 182 metres (597 ft). The project was constructed to Larsen & Toubro in October 2014 for its lowest bid of ₹2,989 crore (US$420 million) for the design, construction and maintenance. The construction was started on 31 October 2014 and completed in mid-October 2018. It is designed by Indian sculptor Ram V. Sutar and was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on 31 October 2018 on the birth anniversary of Patel.
Outreach
The project was first announced on 7 October 2010. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET), a special purpose vehicle was established by the Gujarat government for construction of the statue. The iron needed for the statue and other structures was to be collected from farmers of villages all around India in a form of a donation of their used farming instruments. The drive was named the 'Statue of Unity movement'. Three months long nationwide campaign collected 5,000 tonnes of iron. Although it was initially announced that the iron collected will be used for the statue, it later emerged that the collected iron will not be used in construction of the statue and will instead be used for some other part of the project. The Statue of Unity Movement had organised a Suraaj (good governance in Hindi) petition wherein people wrote about their ideas for the good governance. The Suraaj Petition was signed by an estimated 20 million people, which was the world's largest petition signed. A marathon entitled Run For Unity was held on 15 December 2013 in several places throughout India.
Project
The monument statue represents Indian independence movement leader and the first Deputy prime minister of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel which is constructed facing the Narmada Dam, 3.2 km away on the river island called Sadhu Bet. The total height of the statue from its base will be 240-metre consisting base level of 58 metres and statue of 182 metres. It is constructed with steel framing, reinforced cement concrete, and bronze cladding. The statue needed 75,000 cubic metres of concrete, 5,700 tonnes of steel structure, 18,500 tonnes of reinforced steel rods, 22,500 tonnes of bronze sheets for construction. The statue is designed as a representation of Vallabhbhai Patel, wearing characteristic garments, in a walking stance. In the first phase, a bridge connecting the memorial to the mainland, a memorial, visitor centre buildings, a memorial garden, a hotel, a convention centre, an amusement park, research centres and institutes are being constructed.
Finance
The statue was built on a Public Private Partnership model, with most of the money raised by the Government of Gujarat. The Government of Gujarat had allotted ₹1 billion (US$14 million) for the project in the budget for 2012-13 and ₹5 billion (US$70 million) in 2014-15. In the 2014-15 Union Budget, ₹2 billion (US$28 million) were allocated for the construction of the statue.
Construction
A consortium of Turner Construction (project manager of Burj Khalifa), Michael Graves and Associates and Meinhardt Group, is supervising the project. It took 56 months to complete the project; 15 months for planning, 40 months for construction and two months for handing over by the consortium. The total cost of the project was estimated to be about ₹2,063 crore (US$290 million) by the government. The tender bids for the first phase were invited in October 2013 and were closed in November 2013. The then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi, (currently the Prime Minister of India) laid the foundation stone of statue on 31 October 2013, the 138th birth anniversary of Vallabhbhai Patel. Indian infrastructure company Larsen & Toubro won the contract on 27 October 2014 for its lowest bid of ₹2,989 crore(US$420 million) for the design, construction and maintenance. They commenced the construction on 31 October 2014. In the first phase of ₹2,989 crore (US$420 million) project, ₹1347 crore are for the main statue, ₹235 crore for exhibition hall and convention centre, ₹83 crore for the bridge connecting the memorial to the main land and ₹657 crore for the maintenance of the structure for 15 years after its completion. Accenture provides digital media outreach programme. The monument is designed by Ram V. Sutar. The statue was completed in mid-October 2018. It was inaugurated on 31 October 2018 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The statue was completed in record 33 months. The foundation was laid down in 2013 and inaugurated the statue on 31 October 2018.
Issues
Local people have opposed land acquisition for tourism infrastructure development around the statue. They also claimed that Sadhu Bet was originally called Varata Bawa Tekri, named after a local deity, and so it was a site of religious importance. Environmental activists wrote a letter to the central government that this project started implementation without environmental clearance from the ministry. People of Kevadia, Kothi, Waghodia, Limbdi, Navagam, and Gora villages opposed the construction of the statue demanding back land rights of formerly acquired 927 acres of land for the dam and the formation of Garudeshwar taluka. They also opposed the formation of Kevadia Area Development Authority (KADA) and the construction of Garudeshwar weir-cum-causeway project. The government of Gujarat accepted their demands. When ₹2 billion (US$28 million) was allocated for the statue in the 2014-15 Union budget, several people and the political parties criticised the expenditure for the statue over other priorities like women's safety, education and agricultural schemes. L&T has contracted with TQ Art Foundry; subsidiary of the Jiangxi Toqine Company based in Nanchang, China; for the bronze cladding of the statue. It was criticised by Indian National Congress, the opposition party in Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
