India has decided to cancel a scandal-tainted chopper deal with Anglo-Italian AgustaWestland,
prejudging the outcome of a meeting on Wednesday (20 November) between company executives and Defence Ministry officials to discuss the contract, three sources said.
The decision draws a line under a dispute that has embarrassed a government heading into elections under a cloud of corruption scandals, and could re-open the contract to rivals, including United Technologies Corp's Sikorsky Aircraft, EADS' Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin.
Scrapping the 560 million euro deal to buy 12 helicopters for top politicians will not necessarily lead to New Delhi blacklisting the firm, sources have said, a move some officials fear would set back efforts to modernise the military.
However, it closes a chapter of the struggle by AgustaWestland, a division of Italian defence group Finmeccanica, to keep the contract alive.
19/11/13 Business World
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prejudging the outcome of a meeting on Wednesday (20 November) between company executives and Defence Ministry officials to discuss the contract, three sources said.
The decision draws a line under a dispute that has embarrassed a government heading into elections under a cloud of corruption scandals, and could re-open the contract to rivals, including United Technologies Corp's Sikorsky Aircraft, EADS' Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin.
Scrapping the 560 million euro deal to buy 12 helicopters for top politicians will not necessarily lead to New Delhi blacklisting the firm, sources have said, a move some officials fear would set back efforts to modernise the military.
However, it closes a chapter of the struggle by AgustaWestland, a division of Italian defence group Finmeccanica, to keep the contract alive.
19/11/13 Business World
