An artist's impression of the Shivaji statue that will be installed at a museum near the Mumbai airport
The Maharashtra cabinet today approved a proposal to allocate Rs 100 crore for installation of a statue of warrior king Shivaji off the Mumbai coast. The statue will come up a 16-hectare bedrock in the Arabian Sea.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said it will be the tallest statue in the world. He, however, refused to specify what will be the exact height of the structure.
"The site is 1.2 km from Raj Bhawan, 3.6 km from Girgaum and 2.6 km from Nariman Point," Mr Chavan added. He also said that the bedrock will stand 3 to 4 meters above sea-level even during high tides.
The move is being seen as a counter to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's mission of building the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first Home Minister. Mr Modi has said the statue will be tallest in the world.
The project, named Statue of Unity, will be 182 metres high, is expected to cost Rs 2500 crore, will be double the height of the Statue of Liberty, and will be installed on a river island in Gujarat, the home state of both Mr Modi and the iconic founding father, who belonged to the Congress but whose legacy has turned into hotly-contested territory.
The Maharashtra government has also said it is already installing a 6-metre high bronze statue of Shivaji that would also act as a tourist attraction. The statue will be installed at a museum which is walking distance away from Terminal 2 (T2) of the international airport.