What you need to know about the Statue of Unity

1.

The Statue of Unity, celebrating the Iron Man of India's life, stands tall at 182 metres above the Narmada river.
The height of the statue is more than double the Statue of Liberty which stands at 93 metres off the coast of New York City and four times that of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

2.

'In the world, people talk about America's Statue of Liberty. We want to make a statue of Sardar Patel at twice the size of the Statue of Liberty,' then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Damodardas Modi declared in 2013 when he laid the foundation stone for the monument.

3.

The ambitious project will cost Rs 2,389 crore (Rs 23.89 billion).
25,000 tonnes of iron and 90,000 tonnes of cement have been used in its construction.
Nearly 3,400 labourers and 250 engineers worked round-the-clock at the site of the statue on Sadhu Bet island on the Narmada river.

4.

Iron used in the construction of the statue came from farmers in the region, a symbolic contribution highlighting the farmers' participation in the tribute to the Sardar.

5.

The statue can withstand a wind velocity of 220 km/hour and earthquakes measuring up to 6.5 on the Richter Scale, which are at a depth of 10 km and within a radius of 12 km of the statue.

6.

The statue has been created by the renowned sculptor, Ram Vanji Sutar. The 93 year old, who has given India over 8,000 sculptures, has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

7.

Around 200 visitors at one time can travel to the structure's head, walk into a viewing gallery and enjoy a panoramic view of the Sardar Sarovar Nigam project and the surrounding region from a height of close to 400 feet.

8.

A Sardar Patel museum has been created at the base of the statue. The museum will showcase 40,000 documents and 2,000 photographs on India's first home minister's life.
Adjacent to the statute will be located a three-star 128-room hotel.
The Gujarat government expects over 15,000 tourists to visit the monument daily.

9.

Some critics say the statue is an example of Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party's effort to appropriate a popular national figure, a leader, incidentally, of the Indian National Congress.
For a government that promotes 'Make In India', the bronze panels for the statue were cast at a foundry in China. Scores of Chinese workers were reportedly spotted at the construction site.

10.

Ironically, when he was alive, the Sardar was against the building of statues and memorials to glorify leaders.