Asian giants in race to build Sardar Patel’s ‘Statue of Unity’

Chief Minister Narendra Modi,for whom it is a pet project,has started a nation-wide mobilisation by asking farmers of seven lakh villages to donate iron from their farming equipment to be melted and used for4 the construction of the statue.

Modi laid the foundation stone for the statue on October 31,the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel. The awarding of the construction contract,which was earlier fixed for December 6,has been pushed forward by the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET) — a special purpose vehicle formed by the Gujarat government to execute the project under Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited.

“The big companies that have shown interest have asked for more time to chalk out technical details for the tender,” said a top-level SVPRET official.

The Asian giants in the fray — Shapoorji Pallonji Engineering and Constructions (India),JMC Projects (India) Limited,L&T(India) and Samsung C&T Corporation (Sourth Korea) — can boast of world wide operations. The fourth firm,a Chinese company – that built Spring Temple Buddha,which to date is the tallest statue in the world – is also likely to be in the fray with an Indian partner. The designing,engineering,procuring and construction tender in this regard was floated by SVPRET in August.

In the recent past,L&T has executed a couple of high profile projects with the Gujarat government including Mahatma Mandir and Swarnim Sankul-I,both located in Gandhinagar. While Mahatma Mandir,a convention center,is a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi,the Swarnim Sankul-I houses the Chief Minister’s Office in Sardar Patel Secretariat.

Some of the features of the Statue of Unity,which could present a challenge to the construction companies,include bronze cladding,world’s fastest elevators to keep the visitor’s tour engaging,three-level public base,exhibition floor,mezzanine and roof containing a Memorial Garden,a large continuous exhibit hall that will be developed as a visitor attraction focusing on the contributions of Sardar Patel,an observation deck at 500ft that will give visitors a panoramic view of the beautiful Satpura and Vindhyachal mountain ranges,the 256-km-long Sardar Sarovar Reservoir and the 12-km-long Garudeshwar Reservoir.