Andhra Pradesh Government is planning to make INS Viraat into a tourist destination. Chief Minister of the State N Chandrababu Naidu has planned to set up a joint venture company of the State and the Union government to develop INS Virat at tourist hub in Visakhapatnam.
A meeting was held on Monday amid Naidu and Vice-Admiral HCS Bisht where they discussed different aspects of handing over of INS Viraat to the State government. CM Naidu said that the government will appoint a special officer for making this joint venture successful.
Everything depends upon the budget to make INS Viraat as a sea hotel
There were rumors of a joint venture of the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA), the Navy and an unknown private firm as well. The private firm was supposed to handle the commercial operations.
It is worth mentioning here that the state government wants to develop it as a hotel in the sea or may be to convert into a museum. The final decision will be based on the budget of government and the center if it agrees to invest into the ship for making it a tourist hub. The ship has a big space to accommodate 500 people at the same time.
Navy is retiring the aircraft carrier nex year
“It looks like a hotel in a sea. You can pay around Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh and stay put in Commander Suit of INS Viraat,” Naidu had said a few months ago. The Navy is considering retiring INS Viraat in January 2017. The aircraft carrier was laid up at Mumbai for formal decommissioning.
