INS Vikrant sold to ship-breaker for Rs 63.2 crore

INS Vikrant sold to ship-breaker for Rs 63.2 croreThe INS Vikrant, India's first aircraft carrier that played a key role in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, has been sold to a ship-breaking company named IB Commercial Private Limited.

The private-sector ship-breaker bought the aircraft carrier, which was commissioned in 1961 and decommissioned in 1997, for Rs 63.2 crore.  The auction took place last week.

Earlier, there were plans of converting the huge ship into a museum, but the project was abandoned as the ship's condition was very bad.  It had got rusted and sustained notable structural damage.

IB Commercial will have to tow the decommissioned ship away from the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai within thirty days after it makes the payment.

Teslim Pavaskar, manager at IB Commercial, said, "As soon as we learnt that the ship was being auctioned, we bid for it.  It is a prominent ship and we will move it out of the Mumbai harbour in the next 15 days."

A source from the Ministry of Defence said the auction of the aircraft carrier was in the country's interest as the option of converting the ship into a museum was not economically viable because it would have cost the country nearly Rs 500 crore.

The INS Vikrant was purchased from the United Kingdom in 1957.  The Majestic-class aircraft carrier, which was formerly known as HMS Hercules, was operated from 1961 to 1997.