Sun, May 01, 2011
Lockheed Martin, Boeing Among The Competitors
The Indian Ministry of Defence in New Delhi has asked European
consortium's Eurofighter and French Dassault's Rafale to extend the
commercial bids for the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft that
was due to expire on Thursday. The move could be interpreted as
'down selection' from six competitors in the deal that is expected
to be finalized this fiscal year.
Eurofighter Typhoon
Sources in the government told The Hindu that the Ministry
despatched the letter, based on the Technical Evaluation
Committee's report. The commercial bids, which were re-submitted
last year by the competitors, need to be extended. Once the bids
are opened, the cost negotiation committee would start work. The
calculation would also have to factor in the steep offset clause as
determined by the Defence Procurement Policy.
As per the terms of the deal, the competitors would have to show
that they have the requisite tie-ups to fulfil the 50-per cent
offset clause, which means that half of the value of the deal would
have be sourced from Indian companies. The Indian Air Force had
handed over its report to the Ministry last year after rigorous and
extensive flight evaluation trials of the six fighter planes
bidding for the deal.
Dassault Rafale
Besides Eurofighter and Rafale, the others in the race are
American companies Lockheed Martin (F-16IN Super Viper) and Boeing
(F/A-18 Super Hornet), Swedish SAAB Gripen NG and Russian Mikoyan
MiG35. The sources said the Ministry's team undertook an elaborate
exercise to determine the offset obligations of the competitors,
and once the task was complete, the next stage would be determined
on the basis of the technical evaluation.
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