A summary of the four-member sub-committee's report was placed before the board meeting of the trustees of the MbPT, which incidentally also celebrated its 125th anniversary today.

However, the board deferred considering the recommendations at today's meeting, on the request of senior trustee and union leader S R Kulkarni.

MbPT chairman Arun Kumar Mago later assured Union Minister of State for Surface Transport Debendra Pradhan and State Trade and Commerce Minister Pramod Navalkar that a decision to grant a site for the Vikrant would be taken before the Navy's July 31 deadline. He said the next meeting of the board of trustees was scheduled for July 15.

``The Vikrant must be saved, and the site near Radio Club appears to be the most suitable location,'' Pradhan told theMbPT chairman. His suite at the Airport Centaur was today converted into a makeshift conference room for discussing the Vikrant issue. On a six-hour stopover in the city, Pradhan waited to hear the outcome of the crucial MbPT meeting even as he was joined by Navalkar and city BJP chief Kirit Somaiya.

MbPT chairman Mago, who arrived later in the afternoon, informed the minister that the decision had been deferred until the next meeting. ``The matter is vital and urgent, can't a special committee meeting be called to take a decision?'' Navalkar asked Mago, even as Somaiya said the July 31 deadline was hanging on everyone's head. Meanwhile, All India Port and Dock Workers' Federation President S R Kulkarni said the sub-committee had exceeded the terms of its reference by recommending the two sites. ``There is no report from experts which was sought by the committee.''

He said while some members of the sub-committee had earlier held reservations about granting the site near Radio Club to grout the Vikrant,they had suddenly reversed their verdict. Kulkarni said even the representative of the Navy, who was willing to consider the Oyster Rock site, was now insisting on the Radio Club location. The special committee was appointed in October last year to make a detailed study of the Navy and state government's proposal to convert the carrier into a maritime museum.