The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley meeting on 17 August 2017 has in-principle cleared the acquisition of two pairs of gas turbines from Ukraine at a cost of INR 490 crores. These turbines will power the four Grigorovich-class stealth frigates, which India is procuring from Russia.
PM Modi and President Putin had signed an Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) in the sidelines of BRICS summit in 2016. The frigates which were originally being manufactured for the Russian Navy had been routed to India after Ukraine, which was supplying the power plants, declined to supply the engines citing the ongoing Crimean conflict.
In accordance to the IGA, while Russia’s Yantar shipyard will construct first of the four frigates, India’s state-run Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) will construct the remaining two frigates under an elaborate ToT agreement.
The current order for the Grigorovich’s will serve as a follow-on order to the six Talwar-class frigates that are in service with the Indian Navy. The Talwar’s, with their advanced technology, have redefined the navy’s capabilities and reach in the IOR (Indian Ocean Region).
