India paid Rs.5 bn for faulty Russian ammunition
New Delhi : The entire lot of 3,000 Russian Krasnopol artillery shells India had purchased for Rs.5 billion ($111 million) has proved to be defective and the manufacturer has been asked to rectify the fault, parliament was informed Thursday.
"India's Russian Krasnopol inventory was proved defective during the army test firing," Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
"The performance of the first lot of 1,000 rounds of projectiles procured in 1999 has deteriorated over the years. During the recent test firing by the army, it was observed that the performance was not up to the mark," he said.
"Another 2,000 projectiles procured in 2002 also did not perform to the desired standards in high altitude areas.
"The matter has been taken up with the vendor to rectify the ammunition to achieve the desired results and enhance its shelf life," Antony added.
