Facing tapering domestic orders and with the permanent closure of the last turret casting line in the former USSR, owned by Azovstal in Mariupol, Ukraine, the designers at Uralvagonzavod together with experts from NII Stali (Scientific Research Institute of Steel) using trials data obtained from the Soviet-era, created a new, welded turret to offer further improvement and attract foreign buyers for the T-90. India signaled interest in the T-90 in response to Pakistan's acquisition of 320 Ukrainian T-84 tanks, which was an intuitive decision considering India held rights to fully manufacture the T-72M1 in Avadi, with production being easily adapted to assemble the T-90.