Around 600 labourers and 55 technical and supporting employees worked on the project, valued at ₹404.35 crore and spanning 18.81 acres.
Ambedkar statue in Vijayawada. (Supplied)
The Andhra Pradesh government led by Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Friday, 19 January, is poised to unveil a 125-foot-tall statue of Dr BR Ambedkar in Vijayawada.
The project, valued at ₹404.35 crore and spanning 18.81 acres, commenced in December 2021.
KPC Projects Ltd, the same agency that worked on Telangana’s 125-foot-tall Ambedkar statue, oversaw its construction.
The statue, made entirely in India, features steel framing and bronze cladding, consisting of 400 MT of stainless steel and 120 MT of bronze.
In December 2021, the Andhra Pradesh government envisioned the installation of a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar — considered the father of the Indian Constitution and a Dalit icon — at the Swaraj Maidan in Vijayawada for the project.
The decision was made to install the 125-foot statue on a concrete pedestal standing 81-foot-tall, taking the combined height to 206 feet.
As a result of this initiative, the Swaraj Maidan in Vijayawada has been officially renamed the Dr BR Ambedkar Swaraj Maidan.
The state’s Social Welfare Department has served as the nodal agency for the project, and the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation as its executing agency.
The execution of the project was carried out by the contractor agency KPC Projects Ltd, located in Hyderabad.
The design for the entire area, including the DR BR Ambedkar Experience Centre, a convention centre with a seating capacity of 2,000, a food court, a children’s play area, waterbodies, a musical fountain, and walkways surrounded by greenery, was created by Design Associates from Noida.
An experience centre has also been established beneath the statue. The museum will exhibit the life story of Ambedkar, featuring elements such as a dynamic context wall, multi-layered graphics, layered graphics with embedded displays, dioramas, and set design with projection-mapping.
The entire project employed around 500-600 labourers, along with 55 technical and supporting employees, over two years.
All materials and equipment used in the project were said to have been domestically sourced, adhering to a “Make in India” approach.
In an appeal to the public to participate in the unveiling event, which has been named “Celebration of Social Justice”, Jagan named Ambedkar’s statue the “Statue of Social Justice”.
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