India and Russia will also finalise the long-awaited agreement for the joint production of around 200 Kamov 226T light utility helicopters at a cost of about $1 billion under the “Make in India” programme.
With Russian President Vladmir Putin headed for India to attend the BRICS Summit in Goa, the S-400 deal as well as the joint venture for helicopters to be established between defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics and Russian Rostec State Corporation will be inked over the weekend.
This procurement comes over an year after China sealed a $3 billion deal with Russia for acquisition of six S-400 batteries. China is slated to get the S-400 batteries, which is designated `SA-21 Growler’ by NATO and rivals the anti-ballistic missile capabilities of the US Patriot PAC-3 system, from 2017 onwards.
