INS Viraat Can’t Turn Into Hotel, Museum: Centre to Andhra Govt

Southern Naval Command bid farewell to Viraat as she left Kochi for the last time. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/indianeagle)

The longest serving aircraft carrier INS Viraat, which was recently decommissioned, could have been converted into an aircraft museum and a hotel, but the Defence Ministry was not ready for a 50:50 partnership with the Andhra Pradesh government, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a question in the Upper House, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said a proposal to convert INS Viraat into an aircraft museum, with tourist and hospitality components on commercial basis, was forwarded by the Andhra Pradesh government on 26 October 2016.

The state government wanted 50:50 sharing with the union government as the project was expected to cost around Rs 1,000 crore, with an annual maintenance cost of Rs 150 crore.

Also Read: INS Viraat Sails Into History After 57 Years of Service

“The proposal for equity participation was not accepted by the Ministry of Defence, and the same was communicated to the government of Andhra Pradesh on 14 December 2016,” the minister said.

The ship was decommissioned on 6 March, and its future remains uncertain.

In an interview to news channel NDTV, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said one of the post retirement proposals is to sink it and convert the ship into a tourist attraction for divers.

The Navy chief also said if no buyers were found for the ship in four months, it would be broken and sold for scrap.

INS Viraat was completed and commissioned in the Royal Navy of Britain 1959 as HMS Hermes. In 1984, it was decommissioned from the Royal Navy and subsequently, it was commissioned in the Indian Navy in May 1987.

Commonly called “Grand Old Lady”, it was the world's oldest serving aircraft carrier when the Indian Navy decommissioned it.