Greens see red over French asbestos ship

But the Alang ship-breaking yard - which critics call "India's answer to Dante's Inferno" - needs the contract, officials say, as it battles a downturn in business amid competition from rivals in Bangladesh, China and elsewhere.

"It will give a boost to activity," J.R. Jadega, chief engineer of the Gujarat Maritime Board, which runs the shipyard, told AFP on Monday. "The last three years have not been very performing."

The dispatch of the Clemenceau warship by the French government to India has sparked fierce controversy in France and in India with critics accusing Paris of dumping its toxic waste on the developing world.

International environmental group Greenpeace fought a court battle in France and is vowing one in India to force the Clemenceau to turn around if New Delhi does not reject the ship, which is expected to take up to two months to reach Alang.

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