MOSCOW. Sept 26 (Interfax-AVN) - A ceremony in which Indian will accept Russian-made SU-30MKI multi-role fighter planes will be held at the Lohageon air base outside Puna, Maharashtra state, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. local time on Friday, a source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax.
Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes is expected to be in attendance, the source said
Officials of the Indian Defense Ministry and Russia's Rosvoorouzheniye company (the predecessor of Rosoboronexport) signed a USD1.4bn contract on the development and manufacture of 40 jets in Irkutsk on November 30, 1996. The Irkutsk Aircraft Production Association made and transferred to India ten SU-30MKI planes in 2002.