First Scorpene submarine delivery in 2015: Antony

NEW DELHI (PTI): The delivery of the first Scorpene submarine under Project-75 to the Indian Navy has been put off till second half of 2015, Parliament was informed Monday.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister A K Antony said, "The first submarine is now scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2015. There has been delay due to initial teething problems, absorption of complex technology, augmentation of MDL Infrastructure and procurement of purchased material."

A programme for construction of six submarine is currently underway at Mazagaon Dock Limited (MDL), Mumbai under Project-75.

"As per the contract, first submarine was scheduled to be delivered in December 2012 and thereafter, one each every year till December 2017," Antony said.

Informing the House on increase in the project cost, he said, "Government has accorded approval for revision in the cost of Project-75 on account of increase in cost of items purchased by the MDL, related subheads and additional infrastructure."

He said that the Defence Procurement Procedure 2011 has envisaged monitoring of all acquisitions to rule out slippages.

"To ensure that no such slippages occur in future, DPP-2011 envisages close monitoring of acquisitions cases at appropriate level," Antony said.