Moscow: India will "not" renegotiate the Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal with Russia, Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said here today, but indicated that New Delhi was willing to pay extra for work which were not listed in the original contract.

"We are not (not) going to renegotiate the contract. It is an inter-governmental contract, which has to be fulfilled. We, however, are ready to pay extra for work which was not listed in the original contract," Admiral Mehta told PTI.

He, however, said the amount would be much less than the extra USD 1.2 billion asked by Russia for upgrading the 44-thousand tonne Kiev Class aircraft carrier.

Earlier reports suggested that New Delhi was ready pay USD 600-800 million more than the amount stipulated in the original inter-governmental contract.

The Naval Chief, who is here on a six-day visit, said a Russian team was presently in India to negotiate the financial issue, which he hoped will be concluded within three months.

"We hope that all the financial issues will be closed within two-three months and a team of Rosoboronexport (ROE) is currently in New Delhi," he said.

Admiral Mehta, who on Sunday will visit the Sevmash shipyard where Gorshkov is undergoing refitting, justified the cost escalation, saying it was due to replacement of unusable components which were earlier presumed to be fit.

"For example, initially we thought a pump was OK and its servicing was enough, but when disassembled it turned out unserviceable and we have to replace it with new one, such is the case with cabling," the Naval Chief said.

Source : PTI