Yanam: Puducherry Chief Minister Rangasami and Lt. Governor Ajay Kumar Singh here on Tuesday declared open the 101.6-metre tall Obelisk tower, a replica of the world-famous Eiffel tower. The structure was built by Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) on an 18 acre-site at Guriampet where Vrudda Gowthami joins the Bay of Bengal. The Rs 27-crore project was funded by the Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

The Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) also contributed more than Rs. 5 crore for sand dredging and filling, according to reliable sources. Circular restaurantThe tower has a circular restaurant above and the actual structure was mounted with RIL engineers from Mumbai lending their expertise to NCC teams. The project was actively pursued by Yanam MLA Malladi Krishna Rao. He successfully roped in RIL and GSPC to build their own model of Eiffel tower for the promotion of tourism.

Panoramic view

The tower provided a panoramic view of the Bay of Bengal but entry was restricted to the restaurant (at a height of about 40 metres) for safety reasons. Some 300 tonnes of structural steel and 330 tonnes of construction steel went into erecting the tower and 15,000 bags of cement was used for concrete works including for the pile-cap foundation. Ministers P Thiagarajan, Radha Krishnan and others attended the function.