As per a recent statement of Russian Naval Chief Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, Russia will transfer the Akula-II class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine to India on a 10-year lease by the end of 2011.
India had funded the completion of the submarine at Amur Shipyard before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Nerpa was to be inducted into the Indian Navy as INS Chakra by mid-2008, but on November 8, 2008, shortly after the sea trials commenced, as many as 20 sailors and technical workers were killed onboard, while they were asleep, due to the release of toxic Freon gas following a technical problem in the automatic fire suppression system