The Mumbai-based company and the Goa government had asked for a no objection certificate from the Ministry of Defense.
Mumbai-based company will go to Supreme Court to convert ship into maritime museum
New Delhi, 06 December: The Ministry of Defense has formally rejected the plan to finally save the warship INS Viraat, which served the country for thirty years, from being dismantling. Â
However, to save the ship from shattering, Mumbai-based Envitech Marine Consultants Private Limited knocked the Bombay High Court.
The ministry, in its response filed in the court, made it clear that no objection certificate (NOC) can be given to convert Viraat into a museum.
The same company has come froward to convert the ship into a maritime museum in Goa and will keep it in the Zhuari River.
The Mumbai-based company and the Goa government had sought an NOC from the Ministry of Defense for this but now the appeal is expected to be filed in the Supreme Court next week, after the stand of the Defense Ministry is clear.
The INS Viraat, known as the ‘Grand Old Lady’, became part of the Indian Navy family in May 1987. It was retired on March 6, 2017 after serving the country for 30 years.
After this, efforts were also made to convert ‘Viraat’ into a museum or restaurant to give ‘Jeevan Daan’, but in the meantime, the Sriram Group based in Alang, Gujarat, bid for Rs 38.54 crore and took the ship to its name.
At present, the ship has reached the world’s largest ship dismantling yard at Alang in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, where it is ready to break into a pile.
Meanwhile, Mumbai-based Envitech Marine Consultants Private Limited came forward to convert the ship into a maritime museum by giving it a ‘Jeevan Daan’.
Mukesh Patel, chairman and managing director of Shriram Group, also agreed to sell the ship to the company for Rs 100 crore but demanded the government’s No Objection Certificate.
On this, the company’s operations director Vishnukant sought the NOC from the Ministry of Defense and knocked the doors of the Bombay High Court on not getting it.
He said that we want nothing but NOC from the government; we will invest all the money.
He said that my father was in the Navy. The sentiment of the whole country is associated with INS Viraat. We are trying to work on a public-private-partnership (PPP) model to save the warship and convert it into a museum.
He told that now the Ministry of Defense is expected to file an appeal in the Supreme Court next week when the stand of the Ministry of Defense is clear.
He said that the warship served the British Navy as HMS Hermes from November 1959 to April 1984 (25 years) but did not put a cruel end to the ship. It then retired after serving India proudly for 30 years.
He said it planned to convert the warship recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records, the longest serving in the world, into a ‘major heritage site’ on the banks of the Zuari River in Goa including the aviation museum and the achievements and history of the Indian Navy. Will be told about It will have aircraft exhibition, convention hall, restaurant, exhibition center, parade ground etc.
A complete tourist destination will be constructed around the project to make it economically ‘self-sufficient’. This project will not only be a new asset for the country, but it will create employment opportunities for the local people and give a boost to the state tourism industry.
