The Indian-Russian deal to buy the then-laid-up aircraft-carrier was signed in 2004. Since then, the price-tag of the deal has sky-rocked and the delivery of the carrier from the naval yard in Severodvinsk to the Indian navy has been delayed several times. Admiral Gorshkov is still under reconstruction at the yard.
Indian navy investigators are now investigating to find out if the officer had abused his authority while being posted in Severodvinsk in the period from 2005 to 2008 to leak information from the Indian navy during the re-negotiate the price-tag of the huge aircraft carrier, reports the Calcutta based newspaper The Telegraph.
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The final deal and agreement on price was signed when Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited India in March. India will have to pay USD 2,3 billion for the carrier, three time as much as first agreed on in 2004.
All the reasons that have contributed to the massive hike in the price of the carrier could now be buried under the salacious details of a sex scandal that looks set to override concerns over the navy’s operational requirements and tardy procurement rules, The Telegraph writes.
Read also: India will pay 2.2 billion USD for aircraft carrier
