The proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial in the Arabian Sea project is back to square one. Canada-based NORR Group, which designed the world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, has backed out due to miscommunication with its Indian counterpart.
According to a senior government official, the NORR Group was chosen as consultant by the state government to erect a 190-metre-high statue of Shivaji in the Arabian Sea, five kilometres from Marine Drive. The estimated cost of this project is Rs2,000 crore. However, the state has made a budgetary provision of Rs90 crore.
"The Canadian firm bid the lowest. It agreed to design and consult, quoting Rs44 crore. Its Indian counterpart, Pentacle Infrastructure, told government that NORR would be involved only in the design aspect of the project and the monitoring and consultancy would be done by it (Pentacle Infrastructure). However, the state wanted no such agreement. We wanted the Canadian firm only, from start to finish. Because of miscommunication, NORR decided to back out," said Dr PS Meena, principal secretary (general administration).
Meena said NORR was demanding Rs30 crore besides the regular contract amount. "It could have been a breach of tender guidelines. So, we forfeited its Rs5 lakh deposit. We had even asked the second-lowest bidder to undertake the project at the lowest-bidder amount, even though they had quoted Rs98 crore. However, they also refused to. Hence, we decided to float another tender," Meena added.
The idea for the mid-sea memorial was conceived in 1980. The Congress-NCP government had promised in 2004 and 2009 state assembly elections that it would undertake this ambitious project. "It has been almost 15 years, the project is still at the design stage. The Congress and the NCP came to power twice by promising this project but failed to make it a reality. We hope that the BJP-led government will undertake it and complete it soon," said Vinayak Mete, MLC, who spearheaded the agitation for this project across the state. He added that it is unfortunate that even now the project is getting delayed on flimsy grounds.
Earlier, the memorial's height was to be 98 metres. It was revised to 190 metres to tower over Gujarat's under-construction Statue of Unity, which is set to be 182 metres.
The government plans to develop the memorial on seven acres of island. The entire island will look like a fort reminiscent of medieval times. "Daily, a special slide show on various phases of the Maratha king's life will be shown. Other facilities, such as a library, food court and a theme park will also be there," said a state official.
