Sardar Patel Statue of Unity is Narendra Modi’s political vanity project.
India will now have the tallest statue in the world, and it is the Sardar Patel Statue of Unity. It will add to the symbolic and rhetorical pride that Indians like to revel in these days.
If you are one of those people who think this will bring loads of pride and millions of foreign tourists to our country, let me ask you one question: Which was the tallest statue in the world till now?
If you said Statue of Liberty, you’re wrong. You are one of the many people in the world who have no idea where the tallest statue is. And, this really goes on to show how valuable an achievement the Sardar Patel Statue of Unity is. By the way, the tallest statue in the world was the Spring Temple Buddha in China. But don’t be embarrassed if you have never heard of it. It is never even listed in the top 10 tourist attractions in China. The Great Wall, the Terracotta Army and the Forbidden City are the top three tourist attractions in China. Guess what’s common between them? They are all historical and cultural wonders.
Across the world, historical monuments and sites are a far better tourist magnet than any modern construction. That is why the Eiffel Tower gets almost 7 million tourists every year compared to Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which gets 2 million tourists despite being the tallest building in the world.
There’s no reason to believe why the Statue of Unity would attract more tourists than India’s top historical wonders like Taj Mahal or Amber fort. It is another matter that BJP MLA Sangeet Som tried his best to denigrate Taj Mahal for his politics.
Also read: The political & electoral motivations behind Modi’s push for grand Sardar Patel statue
The Sardar Patel statue is about political symbolism, and does not add to India’s rich culture and history. Our country is, in fact, overflowing with historical and cultural monuments but we hardly have the money to preserve them. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has over 3600+ monuments under its custody, including 36 world heritage sites. It has to reach out to the private sector to adopt the monuments. In fact, ASI spent more money to build its new headquarters than it did on conservation of the monuments in 2017.
Moreover, only 116 monuments have entry tickets, which can earn revenue. Upgrading services at these monuments, including at the Taj Mahal, would give tourism a better boost than spending Rs 3,000 crore on one political statue.
Also read: The row over Red Fort shows Indian liberals outrage first and Google much later
Economically, this statue makes no sense either. The Taj Mahal is the most visited tourist attraction in India, which earns an annual revenue of Rs 25 crore from 8 million tourists. It would be optimistic to hope that the Sardar Patel Statue of Unity will get even a tenth of that number. But even if we assume that the Statue of Unity becomes as popular as the Taj Mahal, it would take more than 120 years to just break even. Add to that the maintenance cost, and it probably will never even become profitable. One can argue that visitor centres, museums and restaurants would help generate revenue but how much of that money will end up in government treasury?
The entire Sardar Patel statue project costs approximately $430 million (Rs 3,000 crore). Of which, the cost of just the statue (182 metres) is nearly $200 million (Rs 1,347 crore). The Spring Temple Buddha statue had cost $18 million (128 metre). Even with inflation, it is unfathomable why it is 10 times higher here.
Thousands of tribals will hold a mass protest against the statue because their lands were taken away. The statue is also made with the help of Chinese workers. With so many question marks on the Statue of Unity, all we have is the justification of political benefit.
But this isn’t be the first time Indian politicians have indulged in political vanity projects of building statues – albeit not at this scale.
In the 1990s, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N.T. Rama Rao dreamed of a tall 440-tonne granite Buddha statue in the Hussain Sagar Lake. He was inspired by his visit to New York’s Statue of Liberty. But even before the statue was installed, it fell off the barge that was transporting it and lay flat in the waters for long, causing him much grief.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also inaugurated a tall statue of Raja Bhoj along the Bhopal lake – obstructing the view for many residents. At the inauguration ceremony, Chouhan said he will try to bring back Bhoj’s goddess’ statue, ‘Vagdevi’, from the British Museum.
Also read: The political dynasty nobody is talking about: Sardar Patel’s
Modi only took this trend a notch above everyone else and, in his characteristic style, aimed for it to be the world’s tallest statue. Ask yourself this: If Iron Man Sardar Patel was alive today, what would be his response to this gigantic blunder?
The author is an activist and YouTuber
Hate Modi/ BJP article as usual. He has conveniently not mentioned about the statues of herself, elephants etc got installed by Mayawati.
I am really astonished with the level of biased opinions, both anti-modi and modi supporters. The writer just gave his opinion and everyone is entitled to their own. We don’t need to abuse the person. Second, we really need to take positive out of every opinion. No person is perfect and if putting our opinion to front can bring about any point of improvement it should be accepted. This will ensure that the people governing our country will improve too. That’s how a democracy works. Abusing and hate is not the way we should respond to any ones opinion. If it’s flawed point it so. This will keep a discussion healthy.
No flames please.
If it would have been Nehru Statue then there would be no protest or economic viability calculations etc by these so called writer’s & his morally corrupt tribesmen
People here should realize what Indians are thinking about Modi:
Watch till the end.
https://t.co/j1ttSbjU8V
It is not all about the money. An inspiration and the idea behind why this statue was started is far more important than the numbers in the post. May be it wont generate the income or become famous like the historical monuments but what does this generation of people give to our future generations? Imagine if shahjahan has built taj mahal with bricks and sand? he wanted something important to be remembered for many generations to come his respect and gift for LOVE. Taj mahal still stand for symbol of love even today after hundreds of years. Dont you think there were no contemporary romantic lovers existed during shahjahan’s time? If something is really important we should make it like no one has ever done it!
you might argue we could have spent that money on people! well if you look at the yearly budget and the amount of money government spends we can just say let’s distribute all that millions of crores to all the people in india and i am sure that will make everyone rich. we dont do that do we!
Annual revenue of 25 crore from 8 million tourists? I.e. 3 Rs per tourist?
If we assume every tourist spends 1000 Rs on an average at the site n facilities, it’s 800 crore Rs in revenue per year. Cost recovered in 4 years.
dhruv look yourself in the mirror and read this whole article…I’m sure either the mirror will break in shame or you will be ashamed by your words for the great Patel ji. Shame on you, atleast forgive Sardar Patel today on his birthday.
normally vast projects are undertaken in periods of depressed economic conditions to provide earning avenues to the jobless – and such projects should be constructive to the nation’s economy – our nation is still under the status of “developing” with vast majority below poverty line. So, surely the funds could and should be spent wisely.
Absolutely right. The Taj is one of the wonders of the world, constructed in the middle ages without modern technology. Besides being a work of art and exquisite beauty, it tells an awesome, inspiring historical tale. I doubt whether the great Sardar Patel will be impressed with his so called Statue of Unity.
Why the print is a socialist anti modi media house?? Does they know that socialism failed in every country. Pls learn something from Venezuela
Paying tribute exorbitantly and ignoring the most plaguing issues right from the farmers to education and rapes. Imagine 3000 crores spent for the Actual upliftment of the state would have made Iron Man truly happy.
All those who are taking sides for this expenditure and tribute are living in a bubble and part of the worst politics.
All activists are like this only. Why not asks the president and all ministers, MPs and VIPs to vacate palatial house to save huge recurring expenses in maintenance. However, I agree that there is no need of building all such grand things in India for leaders who live frugally. But BJP has to outdo Congress.
Dhruv rathee you are such a dumb..do u know what’s the time value of money..if there is a ticket of around 300 rs and we have 3.4 million visitors every year the statue will break even within 16-24 years…do your maths..secondly Patel had a drastic contribution in uniting several princely states..so please stop your agenda..
Modi is Gujarat friendly, not India friendly. Bullet train, GIFT city, Dholera, and many more.
MR. RATHEE SHOULD REALISE THAT PEOPLE OF INDIA HAVE VOTED THESE POLITICIANS WITH TOTAL POWERS TO DOLE OUT OUR TAX MONEY IN DIFFERENT WAYS TO PUBLIC BY WAY OF SUBSIDIES AND OTHER NONPRODUCTIVE UTILITIES. NO BARKS CAN OBSTRUCT THEM.
Sardar Patel is already famous. Who built Sardar Sarovar, Sardar Patel airport at Ahmedabad or SP university at Anand? Vallab Bhavan at Bhopal?
I agree with every word said… Good to see atleast one concerned citizen asking necessary questions at the right time. And I don think this publicity is even required for a country like India. We have things which people only can dream off. Its not wrong to say do not waste money and resources on new things but to preserve the old ones.
How much you earn to spread rumours about our beloved Prime Minister.
Modi is the best and money is not aparameter to compare all the things.If money is a parameter (I believe you surely from minority ),we wasted 1000s of lakhs to educate your kind of narrow minded people in the name of reservations and finally you write this kind of shit. Earn respect and speak truth.Beter do daily labour with dignity instead of begging bills for this kind of shit articles for useless persons
Haahaa this guy is not an activist but a member of thugbandhan…
And regarding comparing spring Temple buddha statue vs Statue of unity did you lay down whether all other factors are equal?
eg:
1)Material type used, rates in 1997-2008 vs 2014-18
2)height difference
3)one is rectangular and other is more human like (lots of technical challenges comes here)
4)one doesnt have sight viewing from inside of the statue and other has sight viewing from the chest (imagine the difficulties but also the pleasure it will give to people when they visit it)
5) Not sure if one is earthquake proof upto 6.8 scale but other is.
I can be wrong on few points but atleast if i print it on The print i need to make full precise evaluation before coming to 10 times costly conclusion…it is not like posting on a facebook page
Stop using wiki pages to make your content
I think 3000 crore(Rs 30 per head) is actually not that costly considering it will inspire and remind every Indian about “unity in diversity” and experience it live when they visit it.
And will be an important showcase to the world about Indian Values and important figures (Not if guys like you stays so short sighted)
Regarding the cost, hopefully 3000 crore is well audited and there is nothing to be suspicious about.. RTI Act benifits can also be availed incase you want to be sure.
In nation building, giving money to poor is not enough.. symbolism, inspirations,glory pride etc are also needed simultaneously..
@Devayat did you read the last sentence? How do you think honourable Sardar Patel would like a tribute to himself? If you know about the iron man’s life then you would know he would be disappointed by this. There are already dozens of roads, bridges, schools etc. after his name. Isn’t that enough?
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/china-builds-bigger-buddhas/index.html can u take i dhruv ?
What will our future generations have if we dont make it now…. Sure it will take 120 years to break even but your mouths are only open coz of that person whose statue is made else you would be in british rule starving for food on the edge of street so keep yoir mouth shut we know you do habe audacious knowledge of economics and maths bit world dont run on maths its a feeling of nationalism oneness of culture….. So keep your farting mouth shut!
PS not a supporter of any govt just a normal guy describing if shah jahah would have thought that tajmahal will take 198 years to become a monument he would not have made it!
Anyone can just blame anything. But it’s a blunder to think of that it has been built to reach any economic breakeven. So the minutes of your life, you spent to calculate it, are wasted. Shahjahan, Modiji didn’t think of breakeven. They just make it. They are we, who just post and reply upon.
Seems verry biased analysis. It is not important how much return will come as revenue. The issues are: 1. To honour a most important personality of modern India with whom the congress party has done injustice. 2. It is also important how much money the government treasury will get. Government includes the autowalls, restaurant walls, hotel wallas, all local shops, the petrol bunk wallas-everone.
The writer is biased, this being tourist attraction economy will prosper like hotel, restaurant, small shops, stuff , they only look at ticket collection,
Mr Dhruv the author first study all aspects and then only write such article
Print is anti BJP. And all the stuff are inhrently to malign BJP. If you have to give balance view tell the mistakes of Nehru Gandhi family, how many statues we have of them. And by the way , Sardar Patel would be happy with this statue, wherever he is. At least Indians will read about Sardar Patel, who he was. My many well educated Bengali friends do not know about Sardar Patel as the communist history was taught to them with little or no mention of Sardar Patel in the text book.
The author says “The Spring Temple Buddha statue had cost $18 million (128 metre). Even with inflation, it is unfathomable why it is 10 times higher here.” Where as if you click on the link of Spring Temple he himself has shared, it says the project cost was $55 million. Seriously you guys publish anything even witjout validating??
See who is the writer…..Dhruv Rathee.That explains all.Biased opinion which doesn’t matter.This guy will spend his entire life criticizing our Prime Minister. I bet he loves Modi criticizing whom he has made money on YouTube.
These so called useless activist find everything irrelevant in modi ‘s work. How they compare a statue with that of business?? Whether the useless Shahjahan built Taj Mahal out of his father’s resources… Bootlickers of Congress..
Right dude, he is literally funded by congress
Gujarat is already lacking in historical and religious architecture, this would surely provide boost to tourism of gujarat and Nation.
This is Don Quixote’s statue of ego
Yes Devayat, everyone is so biased. Except you ofcourse. You are so balanced that you drip facts and objectivity. Not.
Plzz care to read the wiki pages of both statues before spewing venom on public platforms sir!
Don’t just mislead people for god’s sake..
Copper was used in buddahs statue whereas bronze being used here..plzz check the price per kg for starters
And also the amount of material being used is widely varying!
It is cost benefit analysis fit only for traders and merchants and not people
A very good write up. The Iron Man would be grieving in his grave for wasting money on one person’s vanity who will use Sardar’s statue to target Congress. Any protective gear to prevent birds using the tallest leader’s head to ease like it often do on the head of the statues of some of other contemporaries.
i think the Iron Man was a Hindu & therefore would not be in a grave. A little importance given to other leaders of the freedom struggle should not hurt Congress either. Waise, 1 statue for a few thousand roads & statues of MG & JN is not a bad proposition – what say…
It is a merchant”s view. Not that of a citizen
It is a merchant ‘s view , not that of a citizen.
There are a few things that puzzle me about this statue. Mr Modi was the CM of Gujarat for three terms. Why did he not have this statue built during those years? It would have also cost much less 10-15 years ago.
Sardar Patel was a tall leader, but surely not the tallest. Then why the tallest statue for him? Nehru’s name would be an anathema to BJP and Mr Modi, but how about Mahatma Gandhi? He too was from Gujarat, if that were a criteria, and by all accounts “many inches” taller than Sardar Patel!
Gujarat government would dearly want this to become a much visited tourist spot — some people are already comparing it with Taj Mahal. But let us be very honest, if a tourist guide tells his flock of foreigners that they must visit this site, won’t many of them ask, “Sardar who?”
I do not want to sound disrespectful, but I sincerely believe that such a monumental amount of our poor country’s precious resources shouldn’t have been spent on ANY monument. This reflects not adoration on the part of those who were behind this decision, but their insensitivity to stark realities. If it were unalloyed adoration, as I said, this statue would have got built during Mr Modi’s very first tenure in Gujarat.
It was proposed in 2006 and Congress laid eggs on the projects till 2014 and only did CoalGate,2G, CWG etc
This might be you, who don’t know who is Sardar and we are really sorry for such an upbringing. But do remember the world know who is Sardar and “Sardar who?” is never going to happen.
There are some things which are beyond breakeven and RoI. Every citizen of the place within 50/100 ksm around the place will be thankful that such a tourist attraction was built which changed their lives forever.
Kuch cheezeein hoti hai jo tum nahi samjhoge
I don’t know the reason for your frustration Mr. Rathee… that’s the difference between a visionary and a person who cannot see beyond his nose… these statues or such monuments are not for “now”… this is an investment of a visionary for next century… for coming generations.. I and you will die criticising each other, but the real effect will be in times to come…
Stop being critical, or pessimistic or be so negative about such long term plans… It will be a beautiful heritage for our great great grand children and on lighter note, I am not sure if Taj Mahal will survive this long journey till then… ENJOY!!
Correct
Neither article nor research. Full of even, if, then, and assume.
This article makes no sense
Well done Druv.
अल्प ज्ञानी ,महाअज्ञानी,। इस लेख के लेखक के लिए उचित वाक्य है।
साधारण बोलचाल की भाषा में,कहा जायेंगे तो ,यह उनकी व्यक्तिगत ,,,भड़ास,, है दूसरे व्यक्ति के लिए।
ताजमहल की कहानी आज क्या है?आप आंकड़े लगा रहे हैं,इसके बनने के दर्द को और मुगल, अंग्रेज के समय के पर्यटन पर आप के पास आंकड़े न है न होंगे। सारा खेल मार्केटिंग के दुष्प्रचार की तरह है, जैसे वैलेंटाइन्स डे गिफ्ट्स बेचने के लिए,
कश्मीर जन्नत है, मुगलों ने लिखा दिया आप के जैसे गुलाम मानसिकता के लोगों ने मान लिया,कभी नार्थ ईस्ट इंडिया के खूबसूरत इलाके को देखो आगे खुल जायेगी,यही हाल अंग्रेजों ने उत्तर भारत की गर्मी से तंग आ शिमला को राजधानी बनाया, कुछ इलाके वर्तमान उत्तराखंड के उनके मौज मस्ती के लिए जाने गये, इन्हें ही डेवलप किया गया और बाकी को इधर उधर फेंक दिया गया,बंगाल की गर्मी ने दार्जिलिंग के दरवाजे खौले। शुरू की और वर्तमान के समय की गणना का विवेचन करें तो आपके दिमाग की बत्ती गुल हो जायेगी।
वक्त के साथ साथ चीजें बदलती है,जो कल गलत थी,आज सही लगती है,और जो कल सही थी आज गलत लगती है। हमेशा नजरीये का फर्क होता है। सब को राजनीति के चश्मे से देखने और सस्ती लोकप्रियता पाने के लिए उत्साहित महोदय , आलोचना बहुत सुंदर हथियार है,जब और जैसे चाहे अपने हिसाब से इस्तेमाल करने को हम हिनदूसतानी अपनी आजादी मानते हैं ।
आप भी वही कर रहे हैं, लगता है ,सरदार पटेल से कुछ जाती दुश्मनी है तो रब राखा।
The writer always against Modi. 95 percent of all his videos are anti Modi. If the statue was built by other leaders(non bjp) he would have appreciated it. Shah Jahan did not built tajmahal thinking that it will generate revenue to India.
Shah Jahan was not an elected leader. Full stop
shah jahan wasnt elected unlike modi ….you people just assume that you are stupid while you are both stupid and fools
Absolutely Correct Dude, he hates bjp and get funded by Congress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsOjC4To1zI
the writer seems to a sadist.
Very true 😀
The print has no business but to malign the name of our respected prime Minister. And it is for sure that he didn’t believe it for himself. The writer is biased and misinformed in many ways or how could he compare the monuments built in the name of two completely uncomfortable persons. And do we make monuments tl earn money or to pay tribute to our leaders?
There is a limit to the tribute to our leaders especially in a country which is developing.
at what cost? tributes for Rs.3000 crore? this money could have been put in so many other areas. Infrastructure development, roads, railways, metros, reduction of pollution, replaying farmers loans. Could have been used for other military purposes, hospitals could have been built, poverty could have been combated. Of course, you’ll not understand this, keep on the blindfold on your eyes and keep preaching Namo Namo.
But will Taj Mahal exist in the next 120 Years ?
And will this Made in China idol last for more than 10 years !
Another showpiece project coming up off the Bombay coast, even as the state’s farmers face the worst drought in six years.