Article Posted on : - Aug 17, 2010

The AW-101 helicopter. An Augusta Westland photo

NEW DELHI (BNS): India has signed a contract worth Rs 3,546.17 crore in February this year to procure 12 AW-101 helicopters from European company Augusta Westland.

“The cost of the project is Rs 3,546.17 crore and out of these 12 helicopters, eight would be configured for VVIP transportation and four helicopters would be the non-VVIP version,” Defence Minister A K Antony told the Parliament on Monday.

The new helicopters are being procured to replace the ageing Russian-made Mi-8 helicopters that are nearing completion of their technical life.

Antony said that the Ministry of Finance has not raised any objection over security concerns (of the helicopters) raised by the Special Protection Group (SPG) or the Indian Air Force.

He said a global tender was issued and a multi-vendor procurement procedure was followed as per the Defence Procurement Procedure of 2006 to buy the new choppers.