NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday cleared the Rs. 8,000-crore deal for submarines from France to plug a critical gap in its defence preparedness at sea, highly placed sources said here on Thursday. The clearance for convention diesel-electric powered submarines comes at a time when India is also negotiating for two nuclear powered submarines from Russia.

The Government had not officially announced the multi-billion dollar deal because Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was yet to sign the minutes of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the sources said. If that is the case, there is no explanation why at the end of the CCS meeting, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee informed the media about plans to purchase French civilian airplanes and construct a strategically important road in the Himalayas but not the submarine deal. On the other hand, French newspapers flashed the government approval barely hours after the CCS meeting ended.

The approval knocked out the German submarine maker HDW that had been seeking re-evaluation of its bid after being cleared by the court of bribery charges.

It also terminates sporadic discussions with Russia for the Amur class of conventional submarines.

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