Indian Government Denies Report Of New $2-Billion Submarine Deal With Russia, Cites 2019 Lease Contract

The India's Union government on Thursday firmly denied a foreign media report claiming that India and Russia had “clinched” a fresh $2-billion deal to lease a nuclear-powered attack submarine ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi.

In a post on X tagged #PIBFactCheck, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) called the claim “misleading”, stressing that no new agreement has been signed between the two countries. Instead, the submarine lease referenced in the report — originally carried by Bloomberg — stems from an existing contract signed in March 2019, whose delayed delivery has now been rescheduled for 2028. 

“The headline of an article by @Bloomberg claims that ‘India Clinches $2 Billion Russia Submarine Deal as Putin Visits,’” PIB Fact Check wrote. “The claim made in this headline is misleading. No new deal has been signed between India and Russia. The submarine lease is based on an old contract that was signed in March 2019. There has been a delay in the delivery, and the new delivery is scheduled for 2028.” 

The clarification came hours after several Indian and international outlets amplified the Bloomberg report, which said India would pay about $2 billion to lease a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia, finalising delivery after nearly a decade of talks. 

At the core of the controversy is not a fresh pact, but the long-running lease of an Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, widely referred to as INS Chakra III in Indian defence circles. India and Russia signed that lease contract — valued at roughly $3 billion at the time, including refit and support — in March 2019 after years of negotiations over price and configuration. 

Under the agreement, Russia is refurbishing and modernising an existing Project 971 Akula-class hull for India. Once delivered, the boat will serve under an Indian name on a 10-year lease, primarily to train crews and refine nuclear-submarine operations as India pursues its own indigenous nuclear-powered attack submarine programme. The boat is typically described as barred from wartime combat deployment and focused on training and operational work-up. 

Originally, delivery was expected around the mid-2020s, but the schedule slipped amid refit challenges, sanctions pressure on Russia after the Ukraine war, and pandemic disruptions. Indian and Russian sources now converge on 2028 as the revised handover year — the same date cited by the PIB in its fact-check. 

Talks on leasing a follow-on nuclear submarine to replace INS Chakra (K-152 Nerpa) have been underway since the mid-2010s, effectively leaving the project stuck in negotiation and then in delayed execution for close to a decade. Price disputes slowed progress for several years before the 2019 contract was finally inked. 

India returned its previous leased Akula-II boat, INS Chakra, to Russia around 2021, creating a temporary gap in nuclear attack submarine capability even as China stepped up submarine patrols in the Indian Ocean. The upcoming Akula lease is meant to plug that gap until India’s own SSNs enter service. 

The government’s unusually sharp public rebuttal appears aimed at drawing a clear line between an old, already-signed contract and the impression of a new, headline-grabbing “deal” timed to President Putin’s visit.

By underlining that no fresh agreement has been concluded, New Delhi is signalling that:

• The submarine cooperation is part of a long-standing, ongoing programme rather than a sudden escalation in defence ties with Moscow. 

• Any payment or delivery milestones now being discussed are implementation details of the 2019 lease, not evidence of a brand-new procurement decision.

At the same time, the PIB’s confirmation of a 2028 delivery date also serves as a rare, public timeline marker for one of India’s most sensitive defence projects, indicating that despite delays and global scrutiny of Russia’s defence exports, the nuclear submarine lease remains on track under the existing contract.