International environmental group Greenpeace has branded France's decision to send the vessel to the world's largest ship-breaking yard in Alang in the western state of Gujarat "a symbol of the developed worlds arrogant assumption that India can be a recipient for their refuse."

Representatives of Technopure, one of the firms contracted by the French government to remove a large amount of asbestos from the aircraft carrier before sending it to India, were slated to appear before the Supreme Court panel, an official with Maharashtra Pollution Control Board said.

"We're prepared to answer their queries and wait for their direction," Technopure sales manager Eric Bowden told AFP as he walked into the meeting in Mumbai, India's financial hub.

The French defence ministry said Thursday the ship contained no more than 45 tonnes of asbestos. Its statement came after Jean-Claude Giannino, an official of Technopure, said the vessel still contained 500 to 1,000 tonnes of asbestos.

The ship, Clemenceau, is being towed to the Alang shipyard to be broken up for scrap. The voyage which began last weekend could take up to two months.

It was not immediately known when the Supreme Court Monitoring Commission on Hazardous Wastes, whose task is to ensure there are no violations of environmental law, would hand down its recommendation to the Supreme Court.

Greenpeace has called on the government to prohibit the 24,200 tonne decommissioned aircraft carrier's arrival in India.

Greenpeace and three other groups have tried for months to block the transfer on grounds that Indian shipyard workers are not properly protected from the hazards of working with asbestos, which can cause fatal lung diseases.

They also say it will pollute the environment.

"The shipyard is not equipped to handle such highly toxic materials," Greenpeace spokesman Vivek Sharma told AFP in Mumbai.

On Tuesday, a dozen Greenpeace activists hoisting placards reading "Don't pollute India" were briefly detained by police after a protest at the French embassy in New Delhi against the decision to dispatch the warship to India.

"India is being used as a dumping ground," said Ramapati Kumar of Greenpeace India.

Another environmental group, Robin des Bois or Robin Hood, has argued that France acted responsibly by undertaking 90 percent of the asbestos decontamination work itself -- a first for European shipping.

The Clemenceau, which was commissioned in 1961 and took part in the 1991 Gulf War, was taken out of service six years after the war when it was superseded by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.

Greenpeace said the ship had already been rejected by Turkey and Greece and that the Indian governments "passive acceptance of this dumping is certainly not in keeping with the countrys growing international stature."

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