Statue of Unity has been designed by renowned Indian sculptor Ram V. Suthar of Maharashtra.
Seven lifts have been commissioned for the recently inaugurated Statue of Unity in Gujarat to the Mumbai-based vertical transport solutions provider Otis India. Two of these lifts are high-speed Skyrise elevators that will go up to the viewing gallery, an official said. Most of the lifts have a capacity of 13 to 18 passengers, while the high-speed elevators have a capacity of 26 passengers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Statue of Unity to the nation on October 31, the foundation stone of which he had laid as the Gujarat Chief Minister in 2013 at the Sadhu Bet river island facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the River Narmada.
"The Statue of Unity, apart from being a symbol of national pride, is a tribute to India's engineering skills and project management abilities," said S.N. Subrahmanyan, CEO and Managing Director, L&T, which constructed the statue out of the iron collected from half a million Indian farmers donating their used farming equipment.
Otis Asia-Pacific President Stephane de Montlivault said it was an honour for the 165-year-old company to work on the Statue of Unity and it adds to its list of lifts for globally famed structures like the Statue of Christ The Redeemer (Brazil), Eiffel Tower (Paris), Burj Khalifa (Dubai), Petronas Twin Towers (Malaysia) and Empire State Building (USA), among others.
The statue has been designed by renowned Indian sculptor Ram V. Suthar, 93, of Maharashtra, who has designed 50 other monumental structures including statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and GB Pant, among others.
The Statue of Unity complex is spread across 20,000 square metres and has a public plaza overlooking the river, food stalls, laser-light and sound show, gardens, hotel and convention hall, amusement park, research centres and a museum besides a memorial and exhibition depicting the life and times of Sardar Patel.