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Gorshkov latest.

Cut Gorshkov price by $100m: India:

Finally, last week India begun price negotiations with Russia in New Delhi for the acquisition of the aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov. The Indian price negotiation committee is headed by the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral SV Gopalachari.
The Russians, who first offered the 44,000 tonne Kiev class aircraft carrier to India in 1994, are willing to ‘gift’ the Gorshkov, but want $ 700 million as refit charges. Sources inform that India is willing to pay no more than $ 600 million.

The MiG-29K aircraft and the Kamov helicopters that have been offered along with the carrier will push the total cost above $ 1 billion. This may be India’s biggest-ever single defence deal, presuming that it outprices the deal for the 66 Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT), which is also expected to be in the $ 1 billion range.

The mega deal will have other hidden costs as well. Admiral Gorshkov is too big to enter the Mumbai harbour, which is the logical place for basing the aircraft carrier as it is essentially intended for force projection on the Western seaboard. The Karwar base further south will take almost a decade to be ready.

Since the primary military threat to India is from the West, a proper docking and maintenance facility will have to be created for the Gorshkov on that side. Russia has reportedly assured that the refit and conversion will be completed within three years of the contract being signed.

Disagreements over price have delayed a final deal. During his visit to New Delhi in February, the then Russian Deputy Premier Ilya Klebanov had indicated that it could be clinched this summer. But the road to defence deals never runs smooth.
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link: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/150702/detNAT14.shtml

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