Statue of Unity

The Statue of Unity is a statue of Indian statesman and founding father, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950) in the
state of Gujarat, India. It is the world's tallest statue with a height of 182 metres (597 ft). It is located on a river island
facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the river Narmada in Kevadiya colony, 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of the city
of Vadodara.
The monument and its surroundings occupy more than 2 hectares (4.9 acres), and are surrounded by a 12 km (4.6 sq
mi; 3,000 acres) artificial lake. It was built by Larsen & Toubro, who received the contract for ₹2,989 crore (US$420
million) for the design, construction and maintenance in October 2014. The construction was started on 31 October
2014 and completed in mid-October 2018. It was designed by Indian sculptor Ram V. Sutar, and was dedicated by
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31 October 2018, the 143rd anniversary of Patel's birth.

Design- The statue depicts Vallabhbhai Patel, one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian independence
movement, the first Deputy Prime Minister of India, and responsible for the unification of hundreds of princely states
to form the modern political boundary of India.
The Statue of Unity is an enlarged version of this statue in the Ahmedabad International Airport. After studying
numerous statues of Patel across the country, a team of historians, artists, and academics chose to proceed with a
design submitted by the Indian sculptor, Ram V. Sutar. The Statue of Unity is a much larger replica of a statue of the
leader installed at Ahmedabad International Airport. Commenting on the design, Ram Sutar's son, Anil Sutar explains
that "the expression, posture and pose justify the dignity, confidence, iron will as well as kindness that his persona
exudes. The head is up, a shawl flung from shoulders and hands are on the side as if he is set to walk". Three models
of the design measuring 3 feet (0.91 m), 18 feet (5.5 m), and 30 feet (9.1 m) were initially created. Once the design of
the largest model was approved, a detailed 3D-scan was produced which formed the basis for the bronze cladding cast
in a foundry in China.
The total height of the structure from its base is 240 m (790 ft), with a base of 58 m (190 ft) and statue of 182 m (597
ft). The height of 182 was specifically chosen to match the number of seats in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
Funding- The statue was built on a Public Private Partnership model, with most of the money raised by the
Government of Gujarat. The Gujarat state government had allotted ₹6 billion (US$84 million) for the project in the
budget from 2012 to 2015. In the 2014–15 Union Budget, ₹2 billion (US$28 million) were allocated for the
construction of the statue. Funds were also contributed by PSUs under CSR scheme.
Construction- A consortium comprising Turner Construction, Michael Graves and Associates and the Meinhardt
Group supervised the project. It took 56 months to complete – 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 ₹20.63 billion
(US$290 million) by the government. The tender bids for the first phase were invited in October 2013 and were closed
in November 2013.
Narendra Modi, then serving as Chief Minister of Gujarat, laid the statue's foundation stone on 31 October 2013, the
138th anniversary of Patel's birth.
Indian infrastructure company Larsen & Toubro won the contract on 27 October 2014 for its lowest bid of ₹29.89
billion (US$420 million) for the design, construction and maintenance. They commenced the construction on 31
October 2014. In the first phase of the project, ₹13.47 billion were for the main statue, ₹2.35 billion for the exhibition
hall and convention centre, ₹830 million for the bridge connecting the memorial to the mainland and ₹6.57 billion for
the maintenance of the structure for 15 years after its completion.
L&T employed over 3000 workers and 250 engineers in the statue's construction. The core of the statue utilised
210,000 cubic metres (7,400,000 cu ft) of cement concrete, 6500 tonnes of structural steel, and 18500 tonnes of
reinforced steel. The outer façade is made up of 1700 tonnes of bronze plates and 1850 tonnes of bronze cladding
which in turn comprise 565 macro and 6000 micro panels. The bronze panels were cast in China as suitable facilities
were unavailable in India.
Construction of the monument was completed in mid-October 2018; and the inaugural ceremony was held on 31
October 2018, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The statue has been described as a tribute to Indian
engineering skills.
Here are 10 interesting facts that distinguish the Statue of Unity from other statues in the world:
1. The Statue of Unity is the tallest statue in the world. At 182 metres, it is 23 metres taller than China's Spring
Temple Buddha statue and almost double the height of the Statue of Liberty (93 metres tall) in US.
2. The statue will be able to withstand wind velocity up to 60 m/s, vibration and earthquakes.
3. It was built within three-and-a-half years by an army of over 3,000 workers, including 300 engineers from
infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
4. As Gujarat chief minister, Modi had announced the project in 2010 ahead of civic elections in Ahmedabad. The
project, which cost Rs 3,050 crore, was fully funded by the Gujarat government.
5. The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET), a special purpose vehicle set up by Modi in 2011,
arranged some 129 tonnes of iron implements from nearly 100 million farmers in 169,000 villages across all states to
construct the base of the statue in the 'Loha' campaign.
6. The Statue of Unity was built by Padma Bhushan recipient sculptor Ram V Sutar and intricate bronze cladding
work was done by a Chinese foundry, the Jiangxi Toqine Company (JTQ).
7. The viewing gallery for the statue, at 153 metres, can accommodate 200 people at a time and offer an expansive
view of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
8. The Statue of Unity will comprise two semi-joined, composite concrete cylindrical cores, surrounded by a structural
steel space frame to support the exterior cladding. 5700 Mton of structural steel and reinforcement bars of 18500Mton
were used to build the statue.
9. The statue is a three-layered structure. The innermost layer is made of reinforced cement concrete (RCC),
comprising two towers 127 metres high that rise till the statue's chest. The second layer is a steel structure and the
third an 8 mm bronze cladding on the surface.
10. The RCC towers, which at the bottom form Patel's dhoti-clad legs, have two lifts each. Each lift can carry 26
people to the top in just above half a minute.

Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Unity
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/all-you-need-to-know-about-sardar-patel-statue-of-unity-1379166-2018-10-31

Sakif
14 November 2018