Apparently, politicians in India are fighting to reach monumental heights -- quite literally. Joining the list of tall structures in India would be the Andhra Pradesh Assembly building that will come up at Amaravati. The proposed design that has almost been finalised by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will make the Andhra Pradesh Assembly building taller than the Statue of Unity by 68 meters.
The three-floor Assembly building will have a 250-meter tower making it taller than the 182-metre Statue of Unity in Gujarat. The proposed structure will be shaped like an upside-down lily flower, said Minister for municipal administration P Narayana, speaking to media. The tending process for the construction of the proposed assembly will begin by the end of November.
The AP government expects the tendering process alone to take two years to finalise, he added.
N Chandrababu Naidu, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has almost finalised the design by UK based architects Norma Fosters.
Earlier in October, there was sharp criticism from all quarters over the Rs 2,989 crore spent on the construction of the Statue of Unity. The statue was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said that the statue will be a reminder to the nation of Sardar Vallabhai Patel's efforts to unify India shortly after the country gained independence from the British.
However, shortly after the Statue of Unity was inaugurated two states made announcements about building grand statues.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adithyanath announced that his state would build a 201-metre tall statue of Lord Ram. This announcement was followed by the Karnataka government’s announcement to build a 125 feet (38.1 meters) statue of Mother Cauvery.
Earlier, the PM had laid the foundation stone for Chhatrapati Shivaji’s memorial statue that was expected to be 210 meters tall costing Rs 3,600 crore. However, the height of the statue was shortened by 7.5 meters to save costs.