Second-hand Admiral Gorshkov bad buy: CAG

NEW DELHI: The CAG has criticised the Navy���s purchase of the Russian-built aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. According to the auditor, ���second hand��� warhorse will be 60% costlier than a new one. ���The objective of inducting an aircraft carrier in time to fill the gap in Indian Navy has not been achieved,��� the CAG said in its annual report released on Friday.

���The cost of acquisition has more than doubled to $1.82 billion in four years. At best, Indian Navy would be acquiring, belatedly, a second-hand ship with a limited life span by paying significantly more than what it would have paid for a new ship,��� it said.

The purchase of Admiral Gorshkov faced controversy when Russia escalated the price for its refitting in 2007 and also pushed back its delivery date. According to the CAG report, the platform is scheduled to be delivered by 2012 and would be due for its second refit in India by 2017.

Moreover, the CAG report predicts that the Russian shipyard might as well fail to stick to the scheduled delivery date.

���It can be seen that Indian Navy was acquiring a second-hand refitted aircraft carrier that had half the life span of and was 60% more expensive that a new one,��� said the report.