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The statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose under the canopy at India Gate is all set to be unveiled on September 8, The Indian Express has learnt.
Sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the statue along with the revamped Central Vista Avenue.
Final touches are being given to the canopy and tents are being set up for the grand event on Thursday. The spot has been barricaded from all sides.
The revamped Central Vista Avenue — alongside Rajpath, stretching from the Vijay Chowk to the India Gate — has red granite walkways and benches, with greenery all around, aiming to make the stretch more pedestrian friendly, officials say. They said amenities and underpasses have also been constructed for pedestrians.
The statue is part of the Rs 13,450-crore Central Vista Project, which also envisages a new Parliament building, new residence and office for the Vice-President and the Prime Minister, new ministry buildings, and the conversion of North and South Blocks into museums.
It was in January this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that a “grand statue” of Netaji will be installed beneath the canopy at India Gate. Till the time the actual statue is ready, the PM said, Bose’s hologram would be placed at the spot — with exactly the same dimensions as the original. The hologram was unveiled by the PM on January 23 to mark Bose’s 125th birth anniversary celebrations. It was in late July that the hologram was switched off from the spot, and the fittings for the actual stone statue started.
For the 28-ft black granite statue, Mysuru-based sculptor Arun Yogiraj — who had created the 12-feet statue of Adi Shankaracharya at Kedarnath — was roped in by the government. A huge block of black granite stone was selected for the statue, which was then transported to Delhi, where the carving took place over the last two months.
While the initial deadline for the statue was set for August 15 — to coincide with the 75th Independence Day — sources say it was later decided to hold it as a separate ceremony on a later date.
The canopy where the 90-tonne statue will be installed was built in 1936 and housed the statue of King George V.
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