Eurofighter, Dassault Submit Revised Offset Bids, Indian MMRCA Contest Enters Final Round

Eurofighter and Dassault, the two shortlisted bidders in India's MMRCA fighter tender submitted revised offset bids on June 17 signaling the start of the final round of evaluation at the end of which one of the bidders will walk away with the $10 billion tender to equip the Indian Air Force (IAF) with 126 (plus 66 options)Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). A source from one of the bidders told Defenseworld.net at the Paris Air Show 2011 that the updated offset bids included individual MoUs with third part equipment providers which supply critical equipment such as engine, avionics and other critical systems. Earlier offset propsal submitted had only offset commitments on the part of the bidders who are essentially platform integrators. The Indian MoD has not given any timeframe for their next engagement with Dassault and Eurofighter, the sources said adding that they expect to hear from the customer within the next 2-3 months. After the studying the offset proposals, the MoD will call the two bidders for final discussions on price/contract performance and select one among them. "The revised offset bids include 50% direct engagements with Indian companies such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), and several other Indian private groups such as the Tatas, Mahindras, L & T and others", said the source. The MoD had asked the two bidders to extend their commercial bids (price quote) till the end of the year. Generally, commercial bids are valid for two years from the date of the RFP.