India, Russia fight over aircraft carrier repair cost

NEW DELHI—India, upset over Russia’s unilateral decision to more than double the cost of the refurbishment of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, will discuss the issue with Moscow this week, defence officials said on Monday. The Russians have told the Defence Ministry that they were raising the cost by a whopping $1.2 billion to $2.2 billion.
The two sides had agreed in 2004 that the refurbishment would cost $1 billion. India was expecting a hike of $400 mllion. “This is a breach of contract. When it was signed, it was a fixed price contract,” a defence official said on condition of anonymity.
India has already paid nearly half of the original $1 billion that was agreed upon. “Their (Russia’s) proposal is being studied and we will have to discuss it with the Russians at a higher level all over again,” a senior officer said.
India had sent a defence procurement team to Russia to discuss the increase in cost after Defence Minister A.K. Antony visited Moscow last month.—Agencies