NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday ordered a probe into alleged malpractices in the procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters from Italian firm Augusta Westland.
Keeping in line with Defence Minister A K Antony’s stand of ‘zero tolerance for corruption’, the ministry contended that contractual provisions of the ‘Integrity Pact’ signed before the deal would be invoked if the allegations were found to be true. Presently, no specific probe was conducted on the deal signed by India.
While talking to reporters outside Parliament, Antony said that the allegations of corruption would be seriously looked into. The 12 AW-101 helicopters were procured to ferry VVIPs at a cost of `3,546.17 crore in 2010. “I can assure you (that) I will seriously pursue the inquiry,” Antony said. The Defence Minister reminded that the ministry in February had asked its Indian Embassy in Rome to provide a report on the investigation carried out by Italian authority on the issue. Augusta Westland is a subsidiary of Italian defence company Finmeccanica that pipped Sikorsky’s S-92 Superhawk to win the contract. According to reports in an Italian newspaper, the country’s authorities were investigating the alleged payment of `350 crore as kickbacks by helicopter manufacturer Augusta Westland to a Switzerland-based consultant to facilitate the deal with India. Following a similar report in the Italian newspaper in February this year, the Defence Ministry had asked Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma to write to Indian Ambassador in Italy and get a report on the matter. In a statement, the Defence Ministry said: “The Indian Embassy (after MoD sought report in February) reported that the Italian authorities were conducting preliminary investigations on allegations of financial malpractice occurring within Finmeccanica and its subsidiaries in general.” “There was no specific probe being conducted on India-related transactions. There is no clear indication at this stage whether the India related deal would be probed on the strength of preliminary investigations,” the statement added. Out of these 12 helicopters, eight helicopters will be configured for VVIP transportation and four will be non-VVIP version. The helicopters were procured to replace the ageing Mi-8 helicopters.
Antony had told Parliament recently that the Finance Ministry had raised the issues relating to the cost of the machines, but it did not persist following concerns raised by the Special Protection Group (SPG) and IAF over the security of the VIPs.