Paris, September 06, 2005 (Reuters)

India has ordered six submarines developed by a group of French and Spanish companies in a deal worth 2.4 billion euros ($3.01 billion), newspaper La Tribune reported on its web site on Tuesday.

The order for Scorpene submarines will generate revenue of 1.2 billion euros for Armaris, a unit of French shipbuilder DCN and defence electronics group Thales, the paper said.

Officials at Thales were not immediately available for comment, but a DCN spokeswoman cautioned, "The Indian government had not notified Armaris of its approval."

The vessels are being developed in cooperation with Izar of Spain.