The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has criticized the implementation of the Indian Navy’s plan for enabling its submarines with facilities to couple with Deep Submergence Rescue Vessels (DSRV) and Submarine Rescue Chamber (SRC) of the United States Navy (USN), which has resulted in an expenditure of USD 744,343.
The CAG said in its report that not only were many of the 16 Indian submarines at the end of three-fourths of their life, but that only seven of them were actually operational, with nine undergoing repairs and refit. Two of the submarines, INS (Indian Naval Ship) Vela and INS Vagli, both Foxtrot-class, are due to be decommissioned this year and next year.
The report reads, “75 per cent submarines in the IN fleet have already completed three fourths of their estimated operational life. In fact the IN envisaged the project without clearly identifying deadlines for completing the project. It is pertinent to mention that only 7 out of 16 submarines in IN are operational and 9 submarines are under refit/repair as of October 2009.
