Statue Of Unity India Gujarat Editorial Image

The Statue of Unity is a colossal 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 adherent of Mahatma Gandhi during the non-violent Indian Independence movement. 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 is located in the state of Gujarat, India. It is the world's tallest statue with a height of 182 metres (597 feet).[3] It is located on the Narmada River in the Kevadiya colony, facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of the city of Vadodara[4] and 150 kilometres (93 mi) from Surat. Kevadia railway station is located at a distance of just 5 kilometres from Statue of Unity.[5][6]The project was first announced in 2010 and the construction of the statue started in October 2013 by Larsen & Toubro, with a total construction cost of ₹2,989 crore (₹29.89 billion US$422 million).It was designed by Indian sculptor Ram V. Sutar, and was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31 October 2018, the 143rd anniversary of Sardar Patel's birth.[8]