Naval Projects Suffer Cost Escalation, Delay in Commissioning

There have been steep cost escalation and repeated delays in construction and commissioning of naval vessels in the country, Rajya Sabha was told.

In this file photo, an Indian navy serviceman walks down the gangplank of newly commissioned warship, INS Kolkata, during its commissioning ceremony at a naval base in Mumbai August 16, 2014. |Reuters 

NEW DELHI: There have been steep cost escalation and repeated delays in construction and commissioning of naval vessels in the country, Rajya Sabha was told today.

There have been occasions when naval vessel construction projects of Indian Navy have had time and cost escalation, said Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in a written reply in the House.

Major reasons for the cost escalation include delay in availability of warship grade steel, delay in design finalisation, delay in receipt of critical equipment/technology, infrastructural constraints of the shipyards and delay in development of indigenous equipment.

Cost escalation in some major naval vessel construction projects include the P15A project which was estimated at Rs 3,580 crore as original cost but its revised cost was Rs 11,662 crore.

Similarly the P28 project's original cost was Rs 3051.27 crore and it has been revised to Rs 7,852.39 crore. The initial cost of the Project P17 was Rs 2,250 crore which was later revised to Rs 8,101 crore.