No more delay in delivery of indigenous aircraft career :Antony

New Delhi, Nov 20: Worried over long delay in getting the country's first indigenous aircraft carrier, Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday asked stakeholders to work for an early delivery of the warship and said responsibilities would be fixed in case of further slippages in the project.

The Indigenous aircraft carrier, being built in Kochi, was to be inducted into the Navy by 2014-15 but now the proposed induction has been decided for 2018 and the cost of the project has also gone up.

"Everybody has to be accountable for the warship which is a national project and fix responsibilities in case of further slippages. We cannot go on hearing excuses," Antony said in New Delhi.

The Minister was reviewing the progress in the construction of the aircraft carrier being built by the Cochin Shipyard Limited.

He asked the stakeholders including the Navy, the KSL and other agencies to work together and try to compress the delivery schedule of the warship.

Antony said an Empowered Committee has been formed under Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma whose task would be to constantly monitor the progress in the aircraft carrier.