The Great India Drive flags off at the Statue of Unity
The Great India Drive flags off at the Statue of Unity
The third edition of Hyundai India's 'Great India Drive' was flagged off at the Statue of Unity near Vadodara today. The Pioneer's Kushan Mitra was one of the participants of the drive which was flagged off by Hyundai India Managing Director S.S Kim. The route The Pioneer will take will explore some of the state of Gujarat's impressive historical sites such as Champaner, Rani Ki Vav, the Modhera Sun Temple and the historic centre of Ahmedabad. The state of Gujarat has some of the most impressive historical sites in India which are usually off the tourist trail and will be featured here over the next few weeks.
The Statue of Unity of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, independent India's first home minister who effectively brought in the 550 disparate princely states into the Union, is extremely impressive. Built over five years between October 2013 till it's inauguration in October 2018, it is the tallest statue in the world standing at 192 meters tall. Clad in over 6500 bronze plates weighing 1700 tons, the statue overlooks the equally impressive Sardar Sarovar Dam and the reservoir behind. The Dam, which was highly controversial is the second largest cement dam in the world and has the world's third largest reservoir behind it. Not only does the water in the reservoir water the parched lands of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan it also generates 1450 megawatts of clean energy.
