India’s Modi lays foundation of huge statue amid criticism
NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday laid the foundation stone for a massive memorial of a medieval warrior king that’s expected to cost billions of rupees and has come under criticism from environmental activists and others.
The memorial, which includes a proposed 192-meter (630-foot) -tall statue of Shivaji, a 16th century ruler from western India, will be built off the coast of Mumbai on land reclaimed from the Arabian Sea.
The project is expected to be completed by 2019.
The government of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, is expected to spend about 36 billion rupees ($530 million) on the statue.