India and Russia have removed uncertainties surrounding the deal for aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.
India has agreed to pay more money to the Russians for the ship’s refurbishment
NEW DELHI: India and Russia have removed uncertainties surrounding the deal for aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. While India has agreed to pay more money, Russia has promised to speed up the ship’s refurbishment, defence secretary VK Singh said on Wednesday.
The original contract for the ship, its fighters and helicopters, was $1.2 billion. The Russians recently demanded another $1.2 billion saying there was much more work than they had expected, including replacement of boilers and turbines.
Defence secretary VK Singh, who just returned from an inspection of the carrier in Russia, said the “there will be a substantial increase” in the cost of refurbishment. Affirming that India was committed on getting Gorshkov, he said: “They never said they want the ship for themselves. They needed a reaffirmation that we want it.”
Singh said the Russian side, including their industry minister assured his team that they were speeding up the refurbishment process. The ship will be ready by mid-2010 and undergo an 18-month sea-trial under Russian Navy supervision. The Russian industry minister told Singh that it was “a project of highest priority”, and that the Indian side should trust them about their earnestness.
India has offered to provide its shipyard workers if Russia was facing a shortage. Presently, 1,00 Russians are working on the Gorshkov at the Sevmash shipyard. “They have said they need another 500 people to accelerate the work,” Singh said. India is awaiting the Russian response.
The Indian government is now sending a high-powered team under vice-admiral Dilip Deshpande, controller of warship production and acquisition, to carry out an item-wise costing to decide how much more should be paid to the Russians. Singh said it was not only refitting that was costing so much but also the 18-month long sea trials.
j_josy@dnaindia.net
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