The Cabinet Committee on Security on Saturday cleared in principle the estimated US $1.6 billion deal to purchase Russian-made aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.
The meeting of the CCS, presided over by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, authorised Defence Minister George Fernandes to finalise the contract with his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov in Delhi next week, official sources told PTI.
Ivanov begins his three-day visit to India from Monday.
In all probability, the details of the deal would be made public at the scheduled joint press conference to be addressed by Fernandes and Ivanov on Tuesday.
The deal for the acquisition of the 44,000-tonne carrier includes 700 million for the refit and modernisation of the ship and rest for a complement of 28 Mig-29K fighters and six Kamov-31 anti-submarine helicopters.
Fernandes had told reporters the Gorshkov deal had been finalised and it had been placed before the CCS. He also indicated that some more major defence deals had also been put before the Committee for clearance.
Naval chief Admiral Madhvendra Singh said India would make no compromises on the deal and that the country was getting the 'best deal' in its efforts to buy the heavy aircraft carrier.
Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Fernandes, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K C Pant, National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, Cabinet Secretary Kamal Pande, Defence Secretary Ajay Prasad and Vice Chief of Naval Staff Arun Prakash attended the hour-long CCS meeting.
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