360 degree view of the Statue of Unity

The Statue of Unity is a statue of Indian statesman and independence activist Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950),

who was the first deputy prime minister and home minister of independent India and an adherent of Mahatma Gandhi. Patel was highly respected for his leadership in uniting 562 princely states of India with a major part of the former British Raj to form the single Union of India.

The Statue of Unity is the world’s tallest statue, with a height of 182 metres (597 feet)

It is located in the state of Gujarat, India, on the Narmada River in the Kevadiya colony, facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of the city of Vadodara

The project was first announced in 2010, and construction of the statue started in October 2013 by Indian company Larsen & Toubro, with a total construction cost of ₹2,700 crore (US$422 million)

It was designed by Indian sculptor Ram V. Sutar and was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on 31 October 2018, the 143rd anniversary of Patel’s birth.

Narendra Modi announced

the project on 7 October 2013 to mark the beginning of his tenth year as the chief minister of Gujarat

A society named Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET) was formed under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister of Gujarat, to execute the project

Statue of Unity Movement was started in 2013 to collect the iron needed for the statue by asking farmers to donate their used farming instruments.

Narendra Modi announced the project on 7 October 2013 to mark the beginning of his tenth year as the chief minister of Gujarat

By 2016, a total of 135 metric tonnes of scrap iron had been collected and about 109 tonnes of it was used to make the foundation of the statue after processing

A marathon titled Run For Unity was held on 15 December 2013 in Surat and Vadodara in support of the project

After studying statues of Patel across the country, a team of historians, artists, and academics chose a design submitted by the Indian sculptor Ram V. Sutar.[a] The Statue of Unity is a larger version 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 personality 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

Patel’s dhoti-clad legs and the use of sandals for footwear rendered the design thinner at the base than at the top thereby affecting its stability. This was addressed by maintaining a slenderness ratio of 16:19 rather than the customary 8:14 ratio of other tall buildings.

The statue is built to withstand winds of up to 180 kilometres per hour (110 mph) and earthquakes measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale which are at a depth of 10 km and within a radius of 12 km of the statue. This is aided by the use of two 250 tonne tuned mass dampers ensuring maximum stability

The total height of the structure is 240 m (790 ft), with a base of 58 m (190 ft) and the statue measuring 182 m (597 ft)

The Statue of Unity was built by a Public Private Partnership model, with most of the money coming from the Government of Gujarat. The Gujarat state government had allotted ₹500 crore (equivalent to ₹641 crore or US$85 million in 2020) for the project in its budget from 2012 to 2015

In the 2014–15 Union Budget, ₹200 crore (equivalent to ₹272 crore or US$36 million in 2020) was allocated for the construction of the statue.[17][18][19] Funds were also contributed by Public Sector Undertakings under the Corporate Social Responsibility scheme.