Maharashtra raises height of Shivaji statue, budget

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, March 25

The Maharashtra Government has raised the height of the statue of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji off the Arabian Sea at Mumbai.

The height of the statue has been raised to 210 metres from the 192 metres proposed earlier. The budget estimate for the monument has also been raised to Rs 4,000 crore from Rs 3,700 crore planned earlier.

Shiv Sangram leader Vinayak Mete, who heads the committee to construct the statue, told reporters here that the decision to increase the statue's height was taken so that it towers above the sculpture of Buddha which is coming up in China's Henan province measuring 208 metres. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the project.

Mete said the committee overseeing the construction of Shivaji Maharaj's statue was keen that it was the world's highest when construction is completed.

The Maharashtra government has identified a smal island off Mumbai measuring nearly 16 hectares 1.2 kms into the sea from Raj Bhavan. The statue will be visible from Mumbai's Nariman Point, Mete said.

Three bidders are in the fray for constructing the statue. Work is due to begin after the monsoons this year and is due to be completed in 36 months.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial, as it is called, will have a garden, jetties, a library, museum and other facilities.

Ferry services will link mainland Mumbai and the memorial.

The statue is being designed by Delhi-based sculptor Ram Sutar.