India Delays Final Bid Date in Helo Purchase

India Delays Final Bid Date in Helo Purchase (NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI - November 17, 2008: The procurement of 197 reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters for the Indian Air Force and Army has been further delayed, as the last date for submission of bids has been postponed. Sources in the Indian Defence Ministry said the postponement of the last date to submit technical and commercial bids has been extended by two months, from Oct. 24to Dec. 19. Sources said the submission date could be extended further as the competitors are finding it difficult to file their bids with complete details about mandatory offset requirements. In the $750 million bid floated in July, the Defence Ministry increased the level of mandatory defense offsets from the current level of 30 percent to 50 percent. The request for proposals has been send to Eurocopter of France, Bell Helicopter, Sikorsky Aircraft, Boeing of the United States, AgustaWestland of Italy and Kamov Design Bureau. The Defence Ministry had promised the users that the procurement of 197 helicopters would be done on a fast-track basis and the entire procurement completed by 2011. The minimum numbers of helicopters to be inducted will be 30 per year, beginning 24 months after the contract is signed. As per the initial plans, the Ministry of Defence decided to evaluate technical bids and the trials are expected from February 2009. The Indian government decided to rebid the program after canceling an initial plan in which EADS had emerged as the front-runner. The government took that step following allegations of a lack of transparency in the selection process by competitor Bell Helicopter. A total of 384 helicopters are being procured for both the Air Force and Army. Of these, the current tender is for the purchase of 197 helicopters off the shelf while the remaining 187 would be manufactured in India by state-run Hindustan Aerospace under technology transfer.