Report clears Vikrant project, global tenders soon
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

SEPTEMBER 18: The Vikrant maritime museum may become a reality within two years, with the state government deciding today to invite global tenders for a contract to covert India's warship, the INS Vikrant, into a Rs 100-crore museum.

A feasibility study conducted by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has confirmed that the aircraft carrier can be grouted at Oyster Rock to convert it into a maritime museum and the project is viable, Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said today, after discussing the TCS report with the officers concerned.

The state Tourism Department will seek permission from the state Cabinet within three weeks to float global tenders. ``The project is expected to be ready in two years,'' Bhujbal said today.

According to the feasibility report, Rs 40 crore will be required to berth the historic warship at Oyster Rock. ``We shall have to prepare a canal to take the aircraft carrier to the spot and grout it there. A link to the project from the coast and a parking lot will also have to be constructed for tourists,'' he said. Another Rs 60 crore will be required to convert the ship into a maritime museum, maintain it and construct a helipad on its deck, he added. The Vikrant will also have commercial centres such as hotels and shops besides tourist offices.

TCS is working out the tender's details while the state government is simultaeneously communicating with Union Ministry of Forests and Environment for its nod to the project, he disclosed.

Meanwhile, the decommissioned aircraft carrier will be dry-docked at the naval dockyard next week for a three-month Rs 5 crore refit. This repair of the ship's underwater hull using funds sanctioned by the state government, will ensure that the Vikrant lasts in the water pending her conversion into a museum.

This is the third time that the Vikrant project is will be considered by the Cabinet. On two earlier occasions, the Cabinet had given cleared its conversion into a maritime museum, but the feasibility study was not completed even as the Navy had decided to scrap the ship.

However, it was in June this year, after the Navy decided to go ahead with auctioning the ship, that the state government was propelled into action. Bhujbal also took keen interest in the project and fixed the Oyster Rock site for berthing the ship.

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