Wednesday, July 19 2006 12:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Russia will build three stealth warships for India under a Rs 5114 crore contract signed here yesterday (July 18, 2006).

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 5114 crore.

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 had told newsmen after a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Mukherjee had 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.