Article Posted on : - Dec 16, 2011

A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): India is expected to receive the much awaited nuclear powered attack submarine Nerpa from Russia by the month end on a 10-year lease, sources said Thursday.

Russia is set to hand over the nuclear attack submarine by the month end, sources said, adding that the vessel will be rechristened as 'INS Chakra'.

The Akula II type nuclear-powered attack submarine will be leased to India for a 10-year-period, the sources said.

According to earlier reports, the lease contract is estimated to be worth between USD 650 to 900 million. India had funded the completion of the Nerpa nuclear submarine at Amur Shipyard before the Soviet collapse.

While K-152 Nerpa was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan on November 8, 2008, an accident caused the deaths of some twenty sailors and injury to twenty-one others. A fire suppression system discharged gas in the bow of the sub, suffocating civilian specialists and navy crew members.

The Nerpa was laid down at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur shipyard in 1993, but its completion was delayed for nearly a decade due to a lack of funds caused by the economic crisis of the early 1990s.