Updated on
Summary India will induct its Russian-origin nuclear-powered submarine 'Nerpa' in the first week of April.
Nerpa, which will be rechristened as INS Chakra, is scheduled to arrive at its home base of Visakhapatnam in the first week of April and is expected to be commissioned formally into the Indian Navy by Defence Minister A K Antony on April 5, Defence Ministry officials said.The submarine will be on a ten-year lease under a deal expected to be worth over $920 million, they said. An Indian crew had set sail with the Akula II class vessel to India at the end of January.After the INS Chakra joins the naval fleet, it would be for the first time in more than two decades that the Indian Navy would have a nuclear attack submarine. This will also propel India in the elite league of six nations operating nuclear submarines.
