PM Modi to unveil statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose near India Gate today

New Delhi, Sep 08: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to unveil a grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose near India Gate in New Delhi on Thursday.

The towering statue of Netaji is "one of the tallest, realistic, monolithic, handmade sculptures in India".

The statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, which will be unveiled by PM Modi, is being installed in the same place where a hologram statue of Netaji was unveiled earlier this year on Parakram Diwas (January 23) by him.

The statue, made of granite, is a fitting tribute to the immense contribution of Netaji to our freedom struggle and would be a symbol of the country's indebtedness to him. Crafted by Arun Yogiraj, who was the main sculptor, the 28 feet tall statue has been carved from a monolithic granite stone and weighs 65 MT.

A team of sculptors spent 26,000 man-hours of "intense artistic endeavour" to carve a grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, to be unveiled at the India Gate.

The jet black granite statue has been carved from a monolithic block of granite weighing 280 MT, the Culture Ministry said in a statement.

"After 26,000 man-hours of intense artistic endeavour, the granite monolith was chiselled to produce a statue weighing 65 MT," it said.

The statue is completely "hand sculpted using traditional techniques and modern tools". The team of sculptors was led by Arun Yogiraj.

A special 10-minute drone show on Netaji's life would be projected at India Gate at 8 pm on September 9, 10, and 11. Both the cultural festival and the drone show would be open to the public with free entry, the ministry said.