Russia has responded to a request for information (RFI) issued by India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) on the planned production of 12 locally built mine countermeasure vessels (MCMVs) for the Indian Navy (IN) in a joint venture (JV) with state-owned Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL).

The head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS), Dmitry Shugayev, told Jane's on 18 March that Moscow had dispatched its technical proposal to India offering its Alexandrit-E (Project 12701)-class minesweeper for the MCMV programme.

"We are waiting for India to launch a tender for the 12 MCMVs," said Shugayev.

The 61.6 m-long and 10.3 m-wide Alexandrit-E (export-oriented) class, which has a full-load displacement of 890 tonnes, is based on a reinforced fibreglass hull.