Indian Navy's Grand Old Lady INS Viraat to be decommissioned today
Famously known as the Grand Old Lady of of the Indian Navy, the ship was originally with the British Royal Navy before the Indian Government bought it for Rs. 6.5 crore .
INS Viraat played a major role in the 1989 Operation Jupiter in Sri Lankan Peace Keeping operations and Operation Parakram in during India-Pakistan stand-off in 2001-2002 after the terror attack on the Indian Parliament.
The decommissioning ceremony to be held at the sunset will be attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and other dignitaries.
The event will see the lowering and wrap-up of the naval flag installed on the warship.
NDTV quoted Navy chief Sunil Lamba as saying that If no buyer is found for the ship in four months, it will be broken up and sold for scrap.
The Andhra Pradesh government had indicated that it may be willing to convert the old ship into a museum, but the project will cost almost Rs. 1,000 crore.
The Navy Chief told NDTV that Viraat may even be sunk to convert it into a major tourist attraction for divers.
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