Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation of a controversial offshore statue near Mumbai of a medieval warrior king that has been opposed by fishermen and environmentalists.
The 192-metre statue of Shivaji, a famous 16th century figure in the western state of Maharashtra, is to be located about 3.5km into the sea off India's financial hub. Mumbai is capital of Maharashtra state.
Modi poured water from a bronze vessel and threw some earth at the site in the Arabian Sea that was marked by a floating mini-replica of the proposed memorial, which besides the statue would also have a museum, gallery and aquarium.
The project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2019, is estimated to cost 36 billion rupees ($A736 million) by the Maharashtra government and infrastructure firm Egis.
Environmentalists claim the project would involve reclaiming land and disturbing the fragile marine ecosystem along the coast. "Marine life would be impacted and fishermen would be hard hit," Stalin Dayanand of non-profit Vanashakti said.
The area on which the project was planned was a prime fishing area and the construction would affect the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of fishermen, Damodar Tandel of local fishermen's union AMMKS said.
A petition on change.org is asking the government not to spend funds on the statue but instead "on something better - education, infrastructure, food."
"How can we think about the cost when it comes to building a memorial for Shivaji Maharaj?" Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently said in the state legislative assembly.
"He is our pride and it is only fitting that we should build a grand memorial in his name."
