(ET)
The Yogi Adityanath government plans to attract corporate funds to build a 100-metre tall statue of Lord Ram on the banks of Saryu in Ayodhya to bring about ‘social development.’ It has opened up 86 tourism projects worth Rs 2,725 crore in 10 towns, including Varanasi and Gorakhpur, to companies that may want to spend their mandatory 2% of net profit under CSR on them. Two big-ticket projects of the 86 on offer are in Ayodhya — a 100-meter high Lord Ram statue at a cost of Rs 330 crore and development of a ‘Navyu Ayodhya’ (New Ayodhya) on the banks of the Saryu at Rs 350 crore, complete with a 7D Ramlila, Ramkatha gallery, light and sound show on Ramlila and musical fountains.
