Aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, renamed as INS Vikramaditya, is expected to be handed over to the Indian Navy by the end of 2013. The delay is on account of a major malfunction in the main power plant and the boiler. There has been serious concern in India over the inordinate delay. India has requested Russia to adopt a ‘wartime approach’ for ensuring timely delivery of the carrier. The issue came up at a meeting between Defence Minister A K Antony and his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov. India has thus far not thought of slapping a penalty on the Russian shipyard. However, as per the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), the Defence Ministry can penalise foreign vendors if there are major slippages in the delivery schedule. The $947 million deal for the refurbishment of the Russian aircraft carrier was signed in 2004, to be delivered in 2009. However, there has been recurring delay in delivery as well as escalation in price that has now reached $2.3 billion.
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