Sanjay Raut accuses Kirit Somaiya of embezzling Rs 50 crore meant for INS Vikrant repair

He said that after calls to convert INS Vikrant, which had played a key role in the 1971 war against Pakistan, into a museum, Somaiya had started a campaign 'Save Vikrant' and Rs 50 crore was collected for the purpose, "but the information from Raj Bhawan said that not a single paise was submitted". "it is nothing but treason," Raut said.

Mumbai:Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has accused BJP leader Kirit Somaiya of embezzling Rs 50 crore collected in the name of 'maintenance' of India's indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

Raut while addressing a press conference in Delhi demanded a probe by the Maharashtra government, CBI, IT, and ED against Somaiya. He said that after calls to convert INS Vikrant, which had played a key role in the 1971 war against Pakistan, into a museum, Somaiya had started a campaign 'Save Vikrant' and Rs 50 crore was collected for the purpose, "but the information from Raj Bhawan said that not a single paise was submitted". "it is nothing but treason," Raut said.

Pertinently, during the auction after its decommissioning, INS Vikrant was bought by IB Commercial Pvt Ltd for Rs 60 crore. Following decommissioning in 1997, the ship was earmarked for preservation as a museum ship in Mumbai. Lack of funding prevented progress on the ship's conversion to a museum and it was speculated that the ship would be made into a training ship.

In 2001, the ship was opened to the public by the Indian Navy, but the Government of Maharashtra was unable to find a partner to operate the museum on a permanent, long-term basis, and the museum was closed after it was deemed unsafe for the public in 2012. In August 2013, Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command, said the Ministry of Defence would scrap the ship as it had become very difficult to maintain and no private bidders had offered to fund the museum's operations. On 3 December 2013, the Indian government decided to auction the ship.

The Bombay High Court dismissed a public-interest lawsuit filed by Kiran Paigankar to stop the auction, stating the vessel's dilapidated condition did not warrant its preservation, nor were the necessary funds or government support available. In January 2014, the ship was sold through an online auction to a Darukhana ship-breaker for Rs 60 crore. The Supreme Court of India dismissed another lawsuit challenging the ship's sale and scrapping on 14 August 2014.

Vikrant remained beached off Darukhana in Mumbai Port while awaiting the final clearances of the Mumbai Port Trust. On 12 November 2014, the Supreme Court gave its final approval for the carrier to be scrapped, which commenced on 22 November 2014. In memory of Vikrant, the Vikrant Memorial was unveiled by Vice Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command at K Subash Marg in the Naval Dockyard of Mumbai on 25 January 2016.

The memorial is made from metal recovered from the ship. In February 2016, Bajaj unveiled a new motorbike made with metal from Vikrant's scrap and named it Bajaj V in honor of Vikrant. The navy has named its first home-built carrier INS Vikrant in honor of the scrapped carrier.

The new carrier is built by Cochin Shipyard Limited.