Hyderabad: INS Viraat will soon become a major tourist destination.
It is the oldest aircraft carrier in the world and one of three carriers based in the Indian Ocean region serving the Indian Navy since 1987.
The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation officials confirmed that they have received an in-principle approval from the ministry of defence authorities to showcase the carrier as a monumental museum.
APTDC executive director Amarendar said that the Centre agreed to give INS Viraat to the state on the request of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
He also said that the state government has decided to place the historical aircraft carrier on the shores of the Kakinada tourist spot.
The Indian Navy had decided to decommission INS Viraat next year. When the decision was announced, the state government started negotiations with the Centre to turn the aircraft carrier into a tourist attraction.
The government is likely to invest at least Rs 20 crore to make it a museum without destroying its present structure.
Mr Amarendar said that the aircraft carrier is going to become the second biggest such exhibition in the world after the Midway Island aircraft carrier museum in the United States.
Officials are envisaging that the INS Viraat aircraft carrier museum would generate direct and indirect employment in the state.
Officials observed that this project would be developed and maintained by the state government without giving space to private parties, since it involves security.
