Two reports in The Indian Express — on July 8 and 19 — had said the deal was under scrutiny after the only other contender, Bell Helicopters, was disqualified on flimsy technical grounds by the Army during the field trials. The reports had also pointed out that the Ministry was investigating allegations of a middleman in the deal.

Ministry officials confirmed that investigations revealed “major deviations from the approved parameters in terms of both engines and platforms” by Eurocopter during the trials.

The Ministry felt that the field trials were “vitiated” by the fact that Eurocopter had offered its ‘AS 550 C3 model with an ARRIEL 2B engine’ to India at the tender stage but had sent another model, ‘the AS 350 B3 model powered by ARRIEL 2B 1 engine’ for the actual field trials.

“No clearance was taken from the Ministry for fielding a different helicopter at the trials. In fact, such a deviation can be approved only by the Defence Minister after it goes through the Defence Procurement Board, which was not done in this case,” a top official said.