Fund crunch delays grand Ambedkar memorial in Dadar's Indu Mills

Dr Ambedkar's memorial faces delays, now expected by early 2027 due to funding issues. Originally set for 2018, the project has missed multiple deadlines

MUMBAI: The grand memorial of Dr B R Ambedkar at Indu Mills, Dadar, is likely to breach yet another deadline. It’s bhoomipujan was performed by prime minister Narendra Modi in 2015 and it was supposed to be opened to public three years later in 2018. However, after missing multiple deadlines the project will most likely stretch to March 2027. The reason for the delay is funds crunch from the contractor.

Envisaged over a decade ago, the statue measuring 350-ft to stand on a 100-ft pedestal will be the second tallest structure in the world after Statue of Unity, which is 597 ft tall

On Tuesday, Maharashtra governor CP Radhakrishnan and union social justice minister Ramdas Athwale visited the site of the memorial to review the progress of work. Officials appraised the duo that work was stalled due to paucity of funds. Athawale was assured by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Corporation (MMRDA), the special purpose vehicle appointed for the implementation of the project, that ₹27 crore would be released for the construction of the statue, which will cost ₹182 crore.

“We have asked MMRDA to release ₹27 crore in three days. Though the contractor -- MS Shapoorji Pallonji and Company -- was expected to release the money to the sculptor, the company failed to do so. The contractor was expected to complete the project by early 2024. It will take at least two more years to complete the project,” said Athawale.

MMRDA releases the fund to the contractor after the former submits a bank guarantee. Although the minister said the bottleneck was at the contractor’s end, HT could not independently confirm it from MS Shapoorji Pallonji and Company.

Envisaged over a decade ago, the statue measuring 350-ft to stand on a 100-ft pedestal will be the second tallest structure in the world after Statue of Unity, which is 597 ft tall. After the bhoomipujan of the memorial by PM Modi, the memorial which was expected to be completed in three years has missed several deadlines. Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, on his visit to the site in November 2022 had said that the statue would completed by early 2024. Earlier, in April 2018 it was decided that the memorial would be completed by 2020.

The delays were caused by the Covid-19 driven pandemic, followed by a dispute with the Ambedkar family over the statue’s design. The state government at the time constituted a committee of experts, which included the family members, to arrive at a consensus, following which the project was green-lit and sculptor Ram and Anil Sutar, of Ram Sutar Fine Arts Private Limited (RSFAPL), were hired in April 2023. Sutars were appointed to construct the 350-ft statue, but the delay in the release of the money has further held up construction.

“The new deadline set for project’s completion is early 2027, owing to multiple reasons. The contractor not been able to carry out the project at the expected rate. It has failed to provide bank guarantee to MMRDA, in the absence of which the government agency is finding it difficult to release the money. Though the dignitaries have been assured that it will be completed in two years, the actual deadline is early 2027,” said an official from the urban development department.

Anil Sutar of RSFAPL, said, “The delay in construction was because of the change in the size of the statue from 250 ft, and the time taken to finalise the model. We have completed 170 ft thermocol model of the statute; its bronze casting will be done once the funds are released. The completion will take at least two-and-a-half years.”

The UDD official added that the cost of the project is expected to be escalated further in the wake of the delay.