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Russia chooses Indian private shipyard for building frigates — media

The naval frigate order is likely to exceed $3 billion
Project 11356 frigate Vitaly Nevar/TASS
Project 11356 frigate
© Vitaly Nevar/TASS

NEW DELHI, July 16. /TASS/. Russia has chosen the private shipyard Pipavav in India for the joint construction of the Talwar class frigates (patrol ships of Project 11356, India’s Economic Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

A government source told the publication that the "naval frigate order is likely to exceed $3 billion, making it the private sector's biggest-ever warship-building project." "After an evaluation of several Indian shipyards, including that of Larsen & Toubro, Russia has formally informed the Defense Ministry that Pipavav has been chosen as its Indian partner for the project. Officials said a formal letter was sent by Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) director Alexander Fomin last week confirming the partnership," the newspaper reported.

"The contract for the new frigates is likely to be in the form of a government-to-government order with Russia and could be signed this financial year with delivery expected over the next six to eight years," according to the publication. Indian Vice-chief of naval staff, Vice-Admiral P. Murugesan, has confirmed that the sides have been in negotiations on the frigate building technology transfer.

In the period from 2003 to 2013, India has bought from Russia six Talwar class frigates, which were built at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad-based Yantar Shipyard. It was announced after that that India was no longer going to buy finished ships and requested Russia to transfer the technology.

A TASS source close to the Indian Defense Ministry has also confirmed that the Russian side "has visited several shipyards looking for potential shipbuilding partners, however, said that there was no official information year about the conclusion of a deal with Pipavav."