02-17-2010, 06:08 PM
[size="6"]Eurocopter Bidding Anew For India Contracts[/size]
NEW DELHI - Eurocopter said Feb. 16 that it was bidding for Indian military contracts worth up to $8 billion, including a deal scrapped in 2007 after it was awarded to the European helicopter maker.
"We have bid for contracts from the Indian Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and others worth between $7 [billion] and $8 billion," the company's marketing vice president, Rainer Farid, said at Defexpo 2010 in New Delhi.
He also said that Eurocopter, the helicopter unit of European aerospace giant EADS, had resubmitted a bid for a $600 million deal to sell India 197 army helicopters.
The deal was scrapped in December 2007, after it had been awarded to Eurocopter, amid allegations in the Indian media of wrongdoing by the firm.
The signing of the deal was meant to have been a highlight of a visit to India by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in January 2008.
The company had been contracted to sell 60 helicopters in a "fly-away" condition to the Indian Army, while the remaining 137 were to be assembled at state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. in India (HAL).
The new tender for the helicopters, for which the Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland and Russia's Kamov are also in race, is scheduled to be awarded later this year, Indian defence ministry officials said.
Eurocopter's Farid said the firm was also hoping to supply 30 helicopters to the Indian Coast Guard, for which tenders would be opened next year, and added it was also in the race to produce 200 helicopters jointly with HAL.
"We are also bidding for a contract to replace 40 aging helicopters of the Indian Navy, but the process is currently at an initial stage," Farid said.
India is among the world's top 10 military spenders, with an annual defense budget last year of 1.42 trillion rupees ($31.55 billion).
NEW DELHI - Eurocopter said Feb. 16 that it was bidding for Indian military contracts worth up to $8 billion, including a deal scrapped in 2007 after it was awarded to the European helicopter maker.
"We have bid for contracts from the Indian Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and others worth between $7 [billion] and $8 billion," the company's marketing vice president, Rainer Farid, said at Defexpo 2010 in New Delhi.
He also said that Eurocopter, the helicopter unit of European aerospace giant EADS, had resubmitted a bid for a $600 million deal to sell India 197 army helicopters.
The deal was scrapped in December 2007, after it had been awarded to Eurocopter, amid allegations in the Indian media of wrongdoing by the firm.
The signing of the deal was meant to have been a highlight of a visit to India by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in January 2008.
The company had been contracted to sell 60 helicopters in a "fly-away" condition to the Indian Army, while the remaining 137 were to be assembled at state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. in India (HAL).
The new tender for the helicopters, for which the Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland and Russia's Kamov are also in race, is scheduled to be awarded later this year, Indian defence ministry officials said.
Eurocopter's Farid said the firm was also hoping to supply 30 helicopters to the Indian Coast Guard, for which tenders would be opened next year, and added it was also in the race to produce 200 helicopters jointly with HAL.
"We are also bidding for a contract to replace 40 aging helicopters of the Indian Navy, but the process is currently at an initial stage," Farid said.
India is among the world's top 10 military spenders, with an annual defense budget last year of 1.42 trillion rupees ($31.55 billion).