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No bids to give INS Viraat a new avatar

Still Life: The retired aircraft carrier was to be converted into a floatel

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The State's attempts to develop decommissioned Indian Navy aircraft carrier INS Viraat into an integrated tourism and hospitality destination has no bidders.

In May, the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) floated Expressions of Interest (EOI) for converting the ship into an integrated tourism facility and for operating it on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis.

The project, to give a new avatar to the ship which was decommissioned in 2017 and is currently docked in Mumbai's Naval dockyard, is estimated to cost over Rs 850 crore. The tender was later extended to July 1 from June 15.

Sources in the MMB say they have not received any bids and the plan may be called off. Though the MMB official said "another extension seemed difficult," state sources said the issue would be referred to the High Powered Committee (HPC) under the chief secretary.

A senior state official confirmed that the Navy ship cannot be converted into a conventional hotel due to "logistical issues" and turning it into a maritime museum was not financially self-sustaining.

So now, the grand old warrior is just a ton of scrap metal taking up precious berthing, bleeding the Navy for upkeep.

Vice-Admiral (retd) Vinod Pasricha, the first commanding officer of INS Viraat, said Goa could be a good destination considering the availability of berths and high tourist footfall. He added that he had discussed the issue with late Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar. Pasricha has converted decommissioned Naval assets such as INS Kursura into a museum apart from setting up the Naval aviation museum in Goa.

An MMB official said the reasons for the lack interest could be the project's fixed and recurring costs, and concerns about breaking even.
There is also a lack of precedent of such a project in India. The project cost includes infusion of Rs 250 crore by the state as viability gap funding (VGF) and an advance payment as debt to make the project feasible. The Navy was to be paid a reserve price for the procurement.

Though a decommissioned 'Foxtrot' class, Soviet-built submarine Kursura was converted into a museum at Vishakhapatnam by the Navy in 2002, the Viraat project is much bigger. The warship has a 23,900 ton standard displacement.

Last month, minister of state for Defence Shripad Naik told Rajya Sabha that a decision to scrap INS Viraat had been taking in consultation with the Navy. This was attributed to non-receipt of any self-sustaining and financially complete proposal from any state government. It drew sharp reactions from ex-servicemen.

It may be for the second time that the country may lose an opportunity to preserve an aircraft carrier for posterity. The Navy's first aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant was decommissioned in 1997 and its conversion to a full-time museum ship fell through due to reasons such as lack of funding. The Majestic-class aircraft carrier was finally scrapped in 2014.

Globally, around seven aircraft carriers have been converted to museum ships and exhibits or theme parks and luxury hotels including USS Hornet, USS Intrepid, USS Lexington, USS Midway, USS Yorktown (United States) and Minsk and Kiev (China).

First Of Its Kind

  • In 2018, state okayed proposal to convert INS Viraat into a museum 
  • Permanently grounded in Sindhudurg, it would allow a view the marine eco-system
  • It would have been the first such project in India with a five-star hotel & simulators
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