SEVERODVINSK. May 17 (Interfax-AVN) - An Indian delegation visiting the Russian Sevmash shipyard affirmed the positive dynamics in the modernization of the INS Vikramaditya, head of the Indian Defense Ministry Staff's warship production and procurement department Nirajan Kumar said.
He said the shipyard administration was doing its best to comply with the schedule coordinated by the two governments. There were certain areas needing more intensive work, but the delay would be eliminated by the next visit, he said.
The next inspection is due for September.
Russia and India signed a deal to upgrade the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov in 2004. The Indian authorities pledged to pay $947 million to fund the ship's maintenance and modernization, and $530 million more to purchase 16 MiG-29K fighter jets and Kamov Ka-31 and Kamov Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters.
However, having paid $458 million, India suspended the financing of the project in January 2007. In November, Russia asked the Indian authorities to increase the project's budget. The Indian government's security committee gave the go-ahead to talks on a new price for the Admiral Gorshkov modernization contract following the Russian president's visit to India in December 2008.
The ship was expected to be handed over to the customer at the end of 2008. But this deadline was subsequently postponed.
Unofficial estimates put the current price of the deal at approximately $2.3 billion.
Sevmash plans to complete the modernization program and to start its own sea trials of the ship, which will have a service life of at least 30 years, in 2011, if it receives the money on time.
The Admiral Gorshkov, which was previously known as the cruiser Baku, was built in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, and joined the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1987.
The aircraft carrier is 283 meters long and 51 meters wide. It has a displacement of more than 45,000 tonnes.