India was buying Scorpene submarines from three French companies at a 'bargain price' of Rs 13,000 crore and without the involvement of any intermediaries, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday.

"There are actually three French companies -- one of them is in the public sector -- from which we are buying the submarines and not two," Mukherjee said when asked about reports that two French companies have been identified for the deal.

He said the deal was not overpriced as reported in a section of the media.

"Rather, we bargained with the companies and are getting the submarines at Rs 3000 crore lesser than the price initially quoted by them," he said.

Mukherjee said the government was also not aware of the involvement of any intermediaries.