Amid continuing political chaos across the country following the implementation of the demonetisation policy, after which there had been a ban on old currency notes of higher denomination, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, today, laid the foundation stone of Rs 3,600 crore for the Chatrapati Shivaji memorial in Mumbai. As the Prime Minister inaugurated the Maratha warrior king’s memorial and also proposed the formation of a statue of Shivaji of the height 309 feet, here are all the details of PM Modi’s visit to Mumbai and the new initiatives he took.

With political uproar, gradually getting more heated up and opposition leaders slamming the Prime Minister and the central government over the implementation of the note-ban policy, PM Modi, on his visit to the economic capital of the country, proposed the formation of a statue of the great Marathi warrior Shivaji, of a height slightly more than that of the Statue of Liberty. The project which is expected to be completed by 2019, will cost the Maharashtra government a gross of about 36 billion rupees ($530 million) for the statue.

The Prime Minister’s visit to Mumbai also holds political significance citing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections to be held within a few months from now. Apart from the the huge amount that the project will cost the BJP led Maharashtra government, the proposal for the massive Shivaji statue had also been criticized by environmental activists and others, alleging that the project will severely affect marine lives and the ecology of the Arabian sea. However, following the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ assurance to address the issue, the fishermen community had planned not to rake up the issue.

Read the key take-aways of the Prime Minister’s visit to Mumbai, today:

  • PM Modi had also made announcements of the developments in two metro corridors and other projects in the state and the Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, over a tweet, thanked the Prime Minister for launching the projects costing Rs 55,000 crores for Mumbai and Rs 22,000 crores for Maharashtra.

Tweeting the Railway Ministry’s reaction on the Prime Minister’s declarations today, Suresh Prabhu said, “The works will go a long way in providing comfort to commuters of Mumbai suburban network and create infra for meeting tomorrow’s demand. MUTP Ph 3 works include quadrupling of Virar-Dahanu Road line and will provide extension of suburban services from Churchgate to Dahanu Road. Panvel-Karjat double line suburban corridor will cater to the significant urbanization and population growth in recent years in this area.

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“Those who performed the ‘bhumipoojan’ yesterday were not authorised to do so. Many years ago, when I was small, during a visit to Delhi’s Red fort, I gave a speech like Prime Minister. This does not make me a Prime Minister,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said at the event here where foundation stone for Pune Metro was laid down by Prime Minister Naredra Modi.

  • The proposed height of the statue of the great Maratha warrior Shivaji is 309-feet, while the iconic ‘Statue of Liberty’ stands with the total height of 305-feet, 6 inches.

  • Apart from the presence of the BJP leader and Maharashtra CM Fadnavis, BJP’s ally in the state Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was also present for the Prime Minister’s visit in Mumbai. Strains in relations between BJP and Shiv Sena came to the fore during the public meeting addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray’s speech was interrupted for a while, apparently by BJP supporters present among the audience.

    • The Prime Minister performed jal puja for the inauguration of the Shivaji memorial.Watch Video:

  • PM Modi also inaugurated a new campus of National Institute of Securities Markets, SEBI’s educational initiative at Raigad with the presence of the Maharashtra CM.

(With inputs from agencies)