VVIP chopper scam: India cancels Rs. 3,600-crore deal with AgustaWestland

[janon]

VVIP chopper scam: India cancels Rs 3,600-crore deal with AgustaWestland, say sources | NDTV.com

India has cancelled the Rs. 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal with British manufacturer AgustaWestland over allegations that it was riddled with kickbacks, sources in the Defence Ministry have told NDTV.

The cancellation came after a meeting between Defence Minister A K Antony with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh early this morning.

The 12-chopper deal was reportedly cancelled because of "violation of the pre-contract integrity pact," sources in the Defence Ministry have said. The case may turn into a legal tangle for the government as three of the 12 helicopters have already been delivered to India and nearly one-third of the payment has been made.

In February 2013, India froze the deal with Agusta, which is owned by Italian defence manufacturer Finmeccanica. AgustaWestland has denied any wrongdoing but top executives of Finmeccanica are being investigated for paying bribes at home and abroad.

The Italian inquiry forced India to investigate the deal that was signed in 2010. As part of its probe, the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI has alleged that former Air Force Chief SP Tyagi was among those who accepted bribes from Finmeccanica which used a maze of companies in counties like Mauritius to route payments to officers.

Air Chief Marshall Tyagi has rejected the allegations against him.

 

[nair]

I am sure the agusta management would be wondering how to account the kick backs now?

 

[OrionHunter]

Hah! Ha! Too late, boss! Those buggers who were supposed to get the kickbacks have already got them - worth approx Rs 350 crores and are laughing all the way to the bank. They ain't going to be bothered whether the deal is cancelled or not, because they can't and won't refund the slush money to Augusta.

But I wonder how much has gone into the coffers of the Congress?

 

[janon]

Hah! Ha! Too late, boss! Those buggers who were supposed to get the kickbacks have already got them - worth approx Rs 350 crores and are laughing all the way to the bank. They ain't going to be bothered whether the deal is cancelled or not, because they can't and won't refund the slush money to Augusta.

But I wonder how much has gone into the coffers of the Congress?

That will make other companies think twice before paying kickbacks, because they wouldn't want to end up having paid bribes, and yet having their product unsold. Having to pay bribes to sell your product is one thing, but having to pay bribes and not selling is quite another!

 

[JanjaWeed]

Hah! Ha! Too late, boss! Those buggers who were supposed to get the kickbacks have already got them - worth approx Rs 350 crores and are laughing all the way to the bank. They ain't going to be bothered whether the deal is cancelled or not, because they can't and won't refund the slush money to Augusta.

But I wonder how much has gone into the coffers of the Congress?

Did we make any down payment to Augusta? If so...they may deduct the kick back payments out of that! You never know...

 

[janon]

Did we make any down payment to Augusta? If so...they may deduct the kick back payments out of that! You never know...

As the article states, we have already paid one third of the total. It will be interesting to see how the legal battle plays out.

 

[KRAIT]

But the names should come out in open.

 

[OrionHunter]

Did we make any down payment to Augusta? If so...they may deduct the kick back payments out of that! You never know...

They can't do that or the cat would be fully out of the bag!

 

[JanjaWeed]

As the article states, we have already paid one third of the total. It will be interesting to see how the legal battle plays out.

Ah... there you go. They will find a way to recover the money they spent.. & a bit more. I will be surprised if our govt makes any effort to get that money back... Afterall the 'family' is involved in this whole scam.. & a legal tussle would only end up throwing more revelations!

 

[Peaceful Civilian]

Give hard punishment to the corrupt people and make example for others.

 

[Cheetah786]

But the names should come out in open.

Asif Zardari

 

[KRAIT]

Asif Zardari

He is nothing before our Sonia Gandhi.

 

[Abingdonboy]

The bloody joker "Saint" Antony does it again!! Can he make a right decision?



+ these fools in the GoI deserve all they get, they're about to get their backsides handed to them in arbitration- incidentally something the MoD and GoI had categorically ruled out only a few weeks back- and I wonder what the CAG will have to say about that?! The Indian exchequer will be out 10s, if not 100s, of millions- but what does that matter, eh? And when/if one of the aged Mi-8s of the IAF's communication SQD crashes what will these idiots say then? I guess no one in the MoD/GoI cares anymore as it's unlikely they'll be around to face the music post 2014.

The saddest part of all this is the AW-101 was the IDEAL bird for the job and THREE of these lovely birds where delivered to the India and where in IAF hands.



Hopefully someone makes a good call (unlikely) and takes Sikorsky up on their offer to deliver S-92s on a fast-track basis but then that'd make for a single-vender purchase and the MoD avoids them like the plague.


What a mess.

 

[sancho]

The bloody joker "Saint" Antony does it again!! Can he make a right decision?

If the investigations can prove bribes, what else than a cancellation would you see as appropriate?

The interesting part will be, if IAF will remain with the 3 x helicopters, or if additional once that are already produced will be inducted too, while the rest will be cancelled only. If the currently provided helicopters will remain in the fleet, the logical choice would be to order Mi 17 passenger versions in addition to support the AW101s, especially in the support roles (if I remember correctly 4 of the 12 was meant for transport of cargo or support personnel anyway).

 

[Abingdonboy]

If the investigations can prove bribes, what else than a cancellation would you see as appropriate?

But has any investigation actually come to such conclusions? I think not. The Italian court cases haven't even concluded yet. Antony is simply jumping the gun.

The interesting part will be, if IAF will remain with the 3 x helicopters, or if additional once that are already produced will be inducted too, while the rest will be cancelled only. If the currently provided helicopters will remain in the fleet, the logical choice would be to order Mi 17 passenger versions in addition to support the AW101s, especially in the support roles (if I remember correctly 4 of the 12 was meant for transport of cargo or support personnel anyway).

AFAIK the Mi-17s (even V5s) don't comply with the original RFP for this deal and are inherently sub-par to the likes of the AW-101 and S-92.