Article Posted on : - Dec 21, 2014

A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Indian Air Force received 81 Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft as against 112 due till 2012-13 from state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) because of delay in receipt of technical documents from Russian manufacturer Rosoboronexport (ROE).

Due to delayed delivery of the fighter planes, the Defence Ministry recovered liquidated damages of Rs 96.26 crore from HAL, which, however, could not recover the amount from ROE "in the absence of enabling provision" in their contract, a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said.

The report, tabled in Parliament on Friday, said the acceptance of a new rate by HAL for procurement of engine kits for the Su-30 aircraft "disregarding the price stipulated in the General Contract of December 2000 resulted in additional expenditure of Rs 66 crore".

It said the supply of 81 of these multi-role combat aircraft instead of 112 till 2012-13 was due to the delay in receipt of technical documents and rectification of defective toolings received from ROE.

"There were delays up to 275 days in ferry out of aircraft.. due to snag rectification," the report said.

The CAG report said that HAL incurred a loss of Rs 101.72 crore in supply of aircraft due to "adoption of incorrect exchange rate by Defence Ministry while amending the contract" between IAF and the Russian manufacturer.

HAL also suffered a loss of Rs 66.61 crore in supply of ground handling and ground support equipment to IAF due to "quoting rates without reference to year of incurrence and non-inclusion of escalation clause in the contract" with the Defence Ministry, the report said.

India had directly purchased 50 Su-30 MKI planes from the Russian government and concluded an inter-governmental agreement in 2000 for transfer of licence and technical documentation to India for production of 140 aircraft, 920 engines and 140 sets of air-borne equipment.

Pursuant to this and due to immediate requirement, IAF had ordered 140 of these aircraft from HAL in January 2001 in four phases, stipulating deliveries till 2017-18.

However, due to sharp depletion in combat aircraft force levels, the deliveries were advanced to 2014-15. The IAF had then placed an order of 42 aircraft to avoid depletion of its force levels.