Six years ago, New Delhi signed a deal worth almost one billion U.S. dollars with Moscow to pull out an abandoned aircraft carrier from the Russian junkyard and arm it with some of the most modern MiGs: the Mig29Ks. Russia delivered the first four of the 16 combat jets recently but there is no sign yet of the carrier. With Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arriving here for a one-day visit on Friday, the two countries are expected to definitely settle the aircraft issue with a possible signing of agreement, said Indian official sources. India recently has agreed to shell out 2.34 billion U.S. dollars for the aircraft. According to highly placed sources in the Indian Defense Ministry, a price row between India and Russia had delayed the delivery of the carrier, which was originally named after the legendry Soviet Admiral Sergei Gorshkov and now rechristened by India as INS Vikramaditya, an ancient Hindu king. Russia has told India that it cannot build the ship at the cost offered in 2004 and added a new price tag of 2.9 billion U.S. dollars. Going back in time, the price of military equipment had never become an issue in India-Russia military relations which are an extension of the Cold War legacy, when such irritants were often overlooked in the name of friendship. But the economics of military ties between India and Russia have changed rapidly with time and the emergence of new players on the scene. According to Defense Ministry sources, as recently as 15 years ago, India would not have imagined buying military equipment from countries like Israel and the United States, who are now its fastest growing arms partners. So in that sense, the entire dynamics of India-Russia relationship is undergoing a silent change. The delay in the delivery of Gorshkov-Vikramaditya has already derailed Indian navy's ambitious plans to operate three aircraft carriers to play the dominant role of a sea power in the Indian Ocean. The carrier will be inducted in 2013 though it was intended to enter the Indian navy fleet by 2008. Indian navy's sole power projector -- Royal Navy's Hermes which is known as Viraat, or the majestic, in its Indian avatar -- is running on borrowed time. The ship would have been decommissioned by now but its life has been extended after several rounds of overhauling. 'Ideally speaking, the Vikramaditya would have joined the force by now. But the current estimate is that even if the price issue is settled this year, the ship would not be ready to be delivered by the end of 2013,' the sources said. According to the contract signed in January 2004, Russia's Rosoboronexport was to deliver the 44,570-ton aircraft carrier to India in 2008. The 1.5 billion U.S. dollar contract earmarked 964 million U.S. dollars for Gorshkov refurbishment and 536 million U.S. dollar for the complement of 16 MiG- 29K fighter aircraft on board. Indian Navy does own the responsibility for the price hike and the resultant delay in the delivery of the Gorshkov carrier. Recently in response to an Right to Information (RTI) application, Indian Navy admitted that it placed the 1.5 billion U. S. dollar Gorshkov order without visual inspection. 'As per the contract signed in January 2004, the original package was drawn up based on visual examination in as-is condition wherein it was found that the majority of the equipment, systems could be repaired while the electronic equipment could be renewed,' Vice-Admiral S. P. S. Cheema with the Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defense (Navy), wrote in his RTI response. 'On opening up the equipment for a detailed examination and survey of the state of the hull structures, systems, cabling, etc, it emerged that these could not be repaired and hence would have to be replaced with new ones. These additionalities have resulted in the increase in project costs,' Cheema said. Interestingly, India is building another aircraft carrier, known as the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) at home and this would not be ready before 2015. But The ship is still on the drawing board. 