After a controversy that led to the cancellation of the tender in 2007, the Armed Force’s wait for new light helicopters to replace ageing Cheetah choppers that are the lifeline of thousands of troops deployed along the border is set to get longer due to major delays in the procurement process.

While the contract was cancelled two years ago after various discrepancies emerged in the selection process, the fresh Rs 3,000-crore tender to procure 197 helicopters is set to get delayed by at least a year with the government yet to take a decision on carrying out trials of the competing aircraft.

After new tenders were issued to six aviation giants last year, trials to evaluate the performance of the helicopters were expected to be carried out in India this summer, followed by a round of winter trials in November-December.

However, even after completing all technical evaluations and assuring the competing companies that validation trails will be held ‘shortly’, the Defence Ministry is yet to invite anyone for trials. While the summer deadline is far gone, pushing back the procurement by six months, the ministry has not even called the competitors for a round of winter trials, effectively pushing back the entire process by a year.

The trials will now only be possible next year, which means that the first of the new light helicopters will not arrive before 2013-14, more than five years behind schedule. As reported by The Indian Express, the earlier procurement process that started in 2002 had come under a cloud after discrepancies emerged in the selection process. Besides getting hit by the delay in trials, the current procurement process also got a setback last November after on the contenders, US aerospace giant Bell, pulled out from the tender citing a ‘stringent’ offsets clause that requires the winning contender to pump in 50 per cent of the purchase price into the Indian defence industry.

... contd.