New Delhi, March 8: The government today admitted the Indian Army contracted duds for its artillery from Russia in 1999 and 2002, each costing Rs 17.40 lakh on an average. The public funds spent in contracting 3,000 duds totalled Rs 522.44 crore.

“The performance of the first lot of 1,000 rounds of projectiles procured in 1999 has deteriorated over the years and recently during test firing by the army, it was observed that the performance was not up to the mark. Another quantity of 2,000 projectiles procured in 2002 also did not perform to the desired standards in high-altitude areas,” defence minister A.K. Antony said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Asked by CPM MP Amitava Nandy “whether India’s Russian Krasnopol inventory was proved defective during army test-firing”, the defence minister replied: “Yes sir.”

Antony said: “The matter has been taken up with the vendor to rectify the ammunition to achieve desired results and enhance its shelf life.”

India paid $111,950,488 (Rs 522.44 crore) to Russia to buy 3,000 rounds with 81 laser designators. The Krasnopol deal was finalised during the NDA regime — first in 1999 when the army ran short of artillery for its Bofors 155 mm howitzers during the Kargil war and again in February 2002. George Fernandes was the defence minister.

In the Tehelka tapes expose, an army officer, Major General S.J. Singh, is caught on camera claiming he arranged for the procurement of defective ammunition from Russia.