The Hindu : National : Price talks under way, Gorshkov deal likely to be clinched soon

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Price talks under way, Gorshkov deal likely to be clinched soon

Sandeep Dikshit

Refurbished Russian aircraft carrier to replace ageing INS Viraat

Vijay Singh

NEW DELHI: India has expressed confidence that the deal for purchasing a refurbished aircraft carrier from Russia will soon be concluded.

Thanks to a hastily prepared contract document during the NDA government tenure, the refurbishment of Gorshkov ran into difficulties after it was discovered that its modernisation bill was severely underestimated.

While Russia sacked the chief of the shipyard, where Gorshkov is being refurbished, India resigned itself to re-negotiating the additional cost as it had made an advance payment and there was no comparable alternative.

“The two countries are locked in intense negotiations over the price details,” Defence Secretary Vijay Singh told newspersons here. Though he is wary of spelling out the price at which a compromise can be reached, it is learnt the cost will be much less than $1.2 billion demanded by Russia in addition to the originally contracted amount of $1.5 billion.

At the previous round of talks Russia climbed down to $ 900 million while India was insisting on $ 600 million.

A further round of assessment of additional requirements is in the offing. Thereafter the Defence Ministry will take the proposal to the Cabinet.

Four-year delay

Gorshkov is meant to replace India’s sole ageing aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

The likely delay of four years means the Navy will have to strain every sinew to keep it in working condition till the arrival of Gorshkov, to be renamed INS Vikramaditya.

Negotiations dragged on for several years with the Navy having once expressed its apprehension that if INS Viraat was decommissioned and another carrier was not inducted, it would lose aircraft carrier handling skills.

Very few navies in the world possess the ability to handle aircraft carriers that move with a complement of fighter aircraft, helicopters and warships, besides hosting several thousand personnel on board.

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