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Vikrant sails closer to new life

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Vikrant sails closer to new life



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A full-fledged maritime museum aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier IMS Vikrant will finally see the light of day, with the state government likely to finalise the bids for the project by April. The government had announced a proposal to convert the Old Lady of the Indian Navy into a museum on the very day she was decommissioned, on January 31, 1997.
Manukumar Srivastava, secretary, urban development and special projects said, “Five bidders—HCC Infrastructure Ltd, Srei Infrastructure Ltd, Kalpataru Power, Dhoot Developers and Zoom Developers— were asked to submit financial bids after they qualified in the technical bids round. The project is being executed on the build-own-transfer basis and financial bids will be finalised before April 2010.’’
Maharashtra Urban Infrastructure Development Company Limited (MUINFRA)is implementing the project. Ajay Saxena, public-private-partnership expert and officer on special duty, MUINFRA, said, “The successful bidders will be given six months to achieve financial closure. We will give a time-frame of 36 months to the succesful bidder to complete work on the project.’’
The ship will grouted off Oyster Rock near the Radio Club alongside the Gateway of India. “A 1.5 km road, including the jetty, will be constructed to provide access to visitors to the museum which will be located on Deck 3 of the ship. The project has been designed in such a way that the visitor will be straightway led to the maritime museum once he enters the ship,’’ an official said.
The entire project is expected to cost approximately Rs 450 crore. And if all goes according to plan, the state government will not have to shell out any amount as viability gap funding for the project. Saxena said, “The bidders have been asked to submit two separate bids—for 35 years and 50 years. Bids for the 35-year-period will be opened first. A bidder willing to pay highest premium to the government, will qualify first for the project. If the bids are not satisfactory then bids for the 50-year-period will be opened. A bidder quoting a premium or seeking least sum of money as viability gap funding will have an edge in the qualification process.’’
The bidders are also expected to provide a modern security system, including a team to help evacuate people in an emergency or terrorist attack.
The IMS Vikrant has 2.60 lakh sq. feet of space, of which 50,000 sq feet has been earmarked exclusively for the museum. The remaining space can be commercially exploited by the bidder. Artefacts for the museum will be provided by the Indian Navy. “The navy have agreed to upgrade their artefacts every three years so as to keep visitors interested in the project.’’ A study carried out by the CRISIL estimates nearly 2,500 visitors may visit the museum daily.
Saxena further said, “The bidders will be allowed to commercially exploit the premises to earn revenue by opening retail outlets and eateries, with permission from the concerned department.’’ However, he clarified that the operator will not be allowed to open a casino or dance bar or anything prohibited by the law of the land.
As for entry fees, Saxena said the museum will be “for the common man and we will ensure that the bidder does not charge exorbitant entry fees”.

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