Navy's new warship project awaits finance ministry nod

The defence ministry has sent a naval project for building four new guided missile destroyer warships to the finance ministry for clearance, before it goes to Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for final approval.

Defence ministry officials said in New Delhi today that the project that may be worth Rs30,000 crore envisaged building the guided missile destroyers as a follow-on to the on-going project of Kolkata class warships.

Codenamed 'Project 15B', the four new destroyers with stealth features superior to the Kolkata class would be constructed at the Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL).

The three Kolkata-class destroyers are under construction at MDL under the long-delayed Rs11,662 crore Project 15A and are scheduled for delivery to the Navy between 2012 and 2014.

The new destroyers will be of 6,700 tonnage with advanced sensors and weapons suite.

This month, the CCS had approved a proposal to increase the financial powers of defence minister AK Antony under which proposal worth over Rs1,000 crore alone will go to the CCS for approval.

While projects worth less than Rs500 crore would be decided by the defence minister, proposals ranging from Rs500 crore to Rs1,000 crore would be decided by him in consultation with the finance minister.