January 26, 2003	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 22,1423

NEW DELHI, Jan 25: The much touted and heavily negotiated Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, will not be available to the Indian navy before 2006, even as New Delhi was forced to buy extra Sukhoi warplanes in a controversial deal with Moscow, an official report said on Saturday.

Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes had announced the induction of the Admiral Gorshkov with much fanfare in Moscow recently, saying the deal will be clinched by March.

“What he forgot to add was that the Russian aircraft-carrier will not be with the Indian navy before 2006 at the earliest,” The Asian Age newspaper said quoting the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

“Delays have not only hampered the combat-effectiveness of the Indian armed forces, procedures have often been overlooked, leading to procurement of defective and outdated arms and ammunition,” the newspaper said quoting the CAG report.

It said inordinate delays and the delivery of defective and unserviceable items have marked the acquisition of the Sukhoi fleet instead of improving the combat efficacy of the air force.

To deal with the declining combat capability of the air force owing to fleet obsolescence, the ministry of defence in November 1996 contracted for the supply of 40 Su-30 aircraft and associated equipment with its manufacturer at a total cost of $1,462 million, equivalent to Rs51.2 billion.

In addition, an expenditure of Rs11.9 billion was estimated on indigenous development and import of avionics systems.

“The CAG report, however, notes that there was a delay of four to 24 months,” the Age said.

“What seems unpardonable, however, is the fact that apart from revising the original delivery schedule due to delays in development and delivery of indigenous and Western avionics, the ministry was compelled to import 10 additional Su-30K aircraft, which were not suitable for multi-role performance, at a cost of Rs1,187 crores (Rs11.8 billion),” it said.

These are to be upgraded to the Su-30MK version some time towards the end of 2003. Worse, the manufacturer violated the contractual provisions and supplied old, used, defective and unserviceable items valued at Rs155.1 million. The ministry had to release the payment as it was contractually bound.—Jay Enn