India has cancelled a major deal with South Korea to construct 12 advanced minesweepers at the Goa Shipyard.
The country’s government has cancelled the Rs 320 billion project which they were supposed to construct in collaboration with the East-Asian nation.
Advanced minesweepers or mine counter-measure vessels (MCMVs) are around 900-tonne specialised warships that detect, track and destroy underwater mines laid by enemy forces.
The Indian Navy needs 24 MCMVs to guard the east and west coasts but is making do with only four 30-year-old minesweepers at present.
This deficit is more alarming now because Chinese nuclear and conventional submarines, according to Times of India, are regularly making forays into the Indian Ocean by lying mines.
Top sources say the Indian government has directed the Goa Shipyard to start the entire process afresh for the already long-delayed MCMV project.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that Goa Shipyard has been asked to issue a new global expression of interest (EoI) for the MCMVs.
The fresh RFP (request for proposal) or tender will follow thereafter.