Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial at an island in Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast on Saturday.
Sources said, Modi is likely to take a hovercraft from Girgaum Chowpatty to the island to lay the foundation stone.
Proposed on around 15-hectare Island, the memorial will be as high as 210 metres of which 60% would be the height of the statue alone. The total cost of the project is Rs 3,600 crore of which first phase would cost Rs 2,500 crore.
Earlier, there was confusion over PM's visit to the island but Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently made it clear that Modi would be visiting the island.
The PM will also lay the foundation stone for two Metro rail projects, elevated rail corridors project and the Mumbai Trans Harbour link besides addressing a public function in suburban Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).
Significantly, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray would attend the event.
On October 11, 2015, Modi had laid the foundation stone of a grand memorial to Babasaheb Ambedkar at the Indu Mills compound in Mumbai, a function which was boycotted by Shiv Sena whose chief Uddhav Thackeray was not invited.
Meanwhile, the Congress accused the BJP-led Maharashtra government of trying to derive a political mileage from scheduled foundation stone laying ceremony.
(With PTI inputs)
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