News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

Rediff.com  » News » India pays $ 102 mn to speed up Gorshkov refit

India pays $ 102 mn to speed up Gorshkov refit

By Vinay Shukla
September 08, 2009 17:57 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

India has paid another staggering US $ 102 million to Russia, to speed up refit work on the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, pending a final agreement on a huge price hike of almost USD 2 billion demanded by Moscow.

"The advance payment of USD 102 million has given a fillip to repairs and refit works. The workforce would be increased to 2500 for work in two shifts," spokesperson of the Sevmash shipyard Anastasia Nikitinskaya said as Russian officials committed that they would meet the 2012 delivery deadline.

The increasing delay in the delivery of the warship has been described by President Dmitry Medvedev as the 'sole irritant' in Indo-Russian relations. The issue came up in the delegation level talks between President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and her Soviet counterpart on September 3, during her first state visit to the country.

Director General of Severodvinsk-based Sevmash shipyard Nikolai Kalistratov along with his Chief Engineer was also present at the talks held at Kremlin. Under the initial US $ 1.5 billion contract signed in New Delhi in January 2004, Russia was to deliver retrofitted aircraft carrier in August 2008.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Vinay Shukla in Moscow
Source: PTI© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.