Chennai: Foreshadowing the hard knuckled fight for big ticket civilian and fighter aircraft deals that would occur over India’s immensely lucrative skies some three decades later, the Kissinger cables provide a fascinating glimpse into the bitterness that even the sale of a handful of planes by a rival could cause an American vendor.
After losing a closely fought battle to Airbus Industrie for the supply of three civilian aircraft to Indian Airlines in 1975, a representative of the American aircraft maker Lockheed complained to the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi that one reason the French firm had won was because it had ‘sweetened’ the deal with a $1.5 million contribution to the Congress party.
The representative, Peter Mingrone, claimed that Lockheed too had been solicited for a similar contribution but had refused as prices were already “rock bottom.”
He said Airbus had won because it slashed the final sales price to $23 million for each aircraft and financed the entire sale at an interest rate under 8 per cent.
11/07/13 Murali N. Krishnaswamy/The Hindu
