The statue’s construction cost is more than double the estimated amount for proposals submitted to the central government by the Gujarat government to include in Pradhanmantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (Prime Ministers Agriculture-Irrigation Scheme). The construction cost could have been used to irrigate 40,192 hectares of land, cover repair, renovation & restoration of 162 minor irrigation schemes and the construction of 425 small check-dams.
The Statue of Unity--representing the symbolic unification of India post-Independence--will be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31, 2018, as tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 143rd birth anniversary. The statue is now the world’s tallest at 182 metres (597 feet) or nearly 100 times taller than someone 6 feet tall.
Sardar Patel -- independent India’s first deputy prime minister and home minister--was popularly known as the ‘Iron Man of India’ for his role in bringing about the merger of the princely states post-independence.
Here’s what Rs 2,989 crore spent on the statue is worth:
- Over eight times the amount (Rs 3.65 bn) allotted to Gujarat by the central government in 2017-18 under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (National Agriculture Development Scheme) as well as nearly five times the amount (Rs 6.02 bn) approved by the state government for 56 new schemes and 32 continuous projects under the scheme.
- More than double the estimated cost (Rs 10.90 bn) of two water pipeline projects. Firstly, a project based on the Kadana reservoir that will irrigate 10,000 hectare in Dahod and Mahisagar districts. Second, the Dinod-Boridra lift irrigation project which will provide irrigation to 1,800 hectare within Surat district.
- More than double the estimated amount (Rs 11.14 bn) for proposals submitted to the central government by the Gujarat government to include in Pradhanmantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (Prime Ministers Agriculture Irrigation Scheme). The projects will irrigate 40,192 hectares of land, cover the repair, renovation & restoration of 162 minor irrigation schemes and the construction of 425 small check-dams.
The statue construction cost could build:
- Two new IIT campuses (considering one IIT campus costs Rs 11.67 bn).
- Two AIIMS campuses (considering one AIIMS cost Rs 11.03 bn).
- Five new permanent IIM campuses (considering one IIM campus costs Rs 5.39 bn).
- Five new solar power plants, each producing 75 megawatts of power (considering one power plant costs Rs 5.28 bn).
- Six Mars missions (considering one mission costs Rs 4.50 bn) and three Chandrayaan-2 (Moon) missions (considering one mission costs Rs 8 bn) by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
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