Penalty of Rs 600 cr may be imposed for Gorshkov delay

New Delhi: Ahead of Defence Minister-level talks with Russia, India on Monday warned that it could impose a penalty of up to Rs 600 crore for the delay in handing over of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.

"We may impose liquidity damages up to five per cent of the Admiral Gorshkov contract worth over USD 2.3 billion if there are delays in supply of the warship," a senior Defence Ministry official said here. A final decision in this regard would, however, be taken only after the meeting between Defence Minister AK Antony and his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov on Wednesday, he said. Meanwhile, Russian diplomatic sources questioned as to how India could impose such a penalty when they had not done so in the case of delivery of the Scorpene submarines, whose delivery schedule has also slipped by over three years. The first of the six Scorpene submarine contracted from France was supposed to be delivered in 2012 but now it is scheduled for induction into the Navy only by December 2015. At the meeting, India is expected to raise the issue of delay in delivery of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. The delivery schedule of the already much-delayed 45,000-tonne warship has slipped further after it encountered engine malfunctions during sea trials in Russia. The ship, rechristened INS Vikramaditya, was scheduled for commissioning into Indian Navy by December 4, this year but Russian media reports have suggested that it would now be delivered only in October 2013. The warship was originally scheduled to join the Navy on 2008. PTI