PM Modi unveils Netaji Bose statue at India Gate & inaugurates Kartavya Path

A team of sculptors, led by Arun Yogiraj, worked for 26,000 man-hours to carve out the grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

The culture ministry said the statue was carved out from a monolithic block of granite weighing 280 MT. The giant granite stone travelled 1,665 km from Khammam in Telangana to New Delhi on a 100-ft-long truck fitted with 140 wheels.

The 28-ft statue of Bose is placed under the canopy near India Gate.

The Kartavya Path would be opened for visitors from September 9. The area spreading around 3.9 lakh square metre has been developed with greenery all around as 101 acres of lawns have been replanted with different species of grass. It has red granite walkways spreading 15.5 km have been created along with parking space for 1,125 vehicles. 

It also has 400 benches, 150 dustbins, and 650 new signages installed. There are 16 bridges on the entire stretch and boating would be allowed in the two canals as around 19 acres of total canal area has been revamped. Four new pedestrian underpasses have also been built along with eight amenity blocks. As many as 74 historic light poles and all chain links have been restored.

The cost of the project has been estimated to be around Rs 13,450 crore. There is parking space for 35 buses created near the India Gate.

The Delhi civic body would be providing bus service for Central Vista visitors from Friday. People visiting India Gate or Central Vista can avail of the service, which would be only for a week.

With the inauguration of "Kartavya Path" from Rashtrapati Bhawan to India Gate, more than 80 private security guards will keep an eye on the entire stretch, besides police personnel, to prevent incidents of theft and damage to the newly-installed facilities, officials said on Thursday. According to an official, there will be heavy deployment of police personnel and security guards for at least two months. However, no major restrictions for visitors will be in place.