India’s first underwater museum and artificial coral reef will be developed around the decommissioned warship INS Guldar near Nivati Rocks at Vengurla in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today attended the initiation of the project virtually.
The initiative, supported by the central government, aims to boost marine conservation and tourism, offering scuba diving and future submarine tours. The Union Tourism Ministry has approved 46.91 crore rupees for the project.
The ship, weighing 1,120 tons, was decommissioned in January 2024. It has been officially handed over by the central government to the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation for conversion into a submerged museum. Environmental cleaning of the ship is complete, and it will soon be scuttled at the designated site to begin the coral reef formation.
