Choppers' Benchmark Price Was 6 Times High: Parrikar On AgustaWestland Deal

New Delhi: AugustaWestland was favoured at "every stage of the acquisition process starting with the changes in the SQR (Staff Quality Requirements)," Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told Parliament after today's debate in Rajya Sabha. The Congress - the main opposition party -- contested the claims.

Mr Parrikar said the benchmarking price for the choppers arrived at by the contract negotiating committee was 6 times higher - Rs 4877.50 crore when the actual price of each chopper was no more than Rs 100 crore.  

The earlier UPA government and more importantly, the Ministry of Defence led by AK Anthony, failed to act "provocatively" even though the media reported wrongdoings in 2012, he further said.  

Only after Finmeccanica Chief Giuseppe Orsi was arrested in Italy in February 2013, the issue was referred to Central Bureau of Investigation, but even then "no concrete action was taken to terminate the contract till January 2014."

Through the long process of negotiations, Mr Parrikar said, "operational requirements" and SQR were "set", "amended" and the "process influenced" to make AugustaWestland the "only alternative."

The field evaluation trials to judge the quality of helicopters were held outside India. But at the time, the AW-101 - the helicopters that India bought - was still being developed and India conducted the test on a different helicopter, Mr Parrikar told the Parliament.

Targeting former Defence Minister AK Anthony - who was also present in the house during the debate -- Mr Parrikar said "we must ask ourselves" why the previous government reacted only in May 2014, even though Italy had taken action in 2013, arresting the company's key functionaries after the media reports.

"It was the present government that finally issued" orders to put on hold all purchases from the company and its subsidiaries, he said. Had the UPA government acted as soon as reports surfaced in the media, India need not have taken delivery of the three helicopters in 2013 and the "advance payment could have been recovered".

Mr Parrikar also said after the three aircraft was delivered in 2013,
they failed the test in Jammu and Kashmir. The files containing those reports were lost in a fire in June 2014. Only one file had survived.