Government on Thursday said the Air Force Station, Kalaikunda in West Bengal had been prepared as the base for facilitating joint air exercises entailing a total expenditure of Rs 12.16 crore, Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukharjee informed Lok Sabha.

A joint exercise between the Indian Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Air Force has been planned during 2006, Mukharjee said adding a Defence Cooperation Agreement had also been signed between India and Singapore in October for the conduct of joint exercises.

However, a base support agreement for the forthcoming joint exercise would be signed before the commencement of the exercise.

According to agreement reached during the previous air exercises between IAF and RSAF, the RSAF would be paying for the boarding, lodging, consumables like petroleum products and other miscellaneous expenditure.