Russia will build three stealth warships for India under a Rs 5,514-contract signed in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The signing of the contract came nearly two weeks after the Cabinet Committee on Security approved the purchase of three more Russian stealth warships and 28 submarine-fired cruise missiles in a move aimed at bolstering the navy's fighting potential.
The three Russian Krivak-class frigates would be acquired at a cost of Rs 5,114 crores. The first one would be delivered five years after the signing of the contract and the subsequent two within 12 months after the delivery of the first warship, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told newsmen after a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Mukherjee said the purchase of the three Russian frigates was a follow-up order to the purchase of three of the same type of warships in the late 1990s.
Indian Navy has already inducted three Krivak-class warships that were re-christened Talwar-class.