Nine years after the Congress-led government in Maharashtra made an election-time promise of constructing a 312-feet statue of warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji off Mumbai shore, the Centre today gave in-principle approval.

Addressing a press conference here, Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natrajan said the finalised site in the Arabian sea, a 18-hectare rock, was a safe place. "Even during high tide, the rock stands 3 to 4 meters above sea-level," she said.