A day after reports spoke of government shelving 'Trishul' anti-missile project, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said an extension of time has been given for the complex programme. "The Defence Research and Development Organisation had sought approval for extension of the programme and I have given my approval on September 29," he told reporters in New Delhi.
Maintaining that there was "no question of shelving the project", Mukherjee told newsmen on the sidelines of the Naval Commanders conference that some "confusion" had arisen as the project's completion date was to be over by December 2006.
"That was an old decision", the Defence Minister said pointing out that DRDO had been allowed to go ahead with the project, which has been dogged by repeated failures in missile guidance and control systems.
On Monday, unnamed officials had said the government intended to close down the Trishul project.
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