L&T bags contract for Sardar Patel statue

Ahmedabad: The world’s tallest statue – the 182-metre bronze statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – will be built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T). The statue is planned to be twice the size of New York’s ‘Statue of Liberty’.

Larsen & Toubro won the contract for Rs 2,979 crore through a bidding process for the project referred to as the Statue of Unity, the company said. Turner Construction, which built the world’s tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa in Dubai, will act as consultant.

The statue will be located on a river island in Gujarat, about a two-hour drive from the city of Baroda. It will take 42 months to execute.

In July, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in his budget speech that the government has set aside Rs 200 crore to help fund the construction of the Statue of Unity.

Modi launched the project half a year before he was elected prime minister in May to honour Sardar Patel. Many in Gujarat feel his legacy has been neglected by Congress.

Modi had said that every Indian “regrets Sardar Patel did not become the first prime minister. Had he been the first prime minister, the country’s fate and face would have been completely different.”