Indian Govt Freezes Helicopter Payment

The Indian government has frozen payments for nine of 12 VVIP helicopters it intended to procure from AgustaWestland worth $750 million as the country’s premier investigation agency conducts its probe just days after AW’s CEO Guiseppe Orsi was arrested.

AgustaWestland recently delivered the first three helicopters with the remaining scheduled to be delivered by the end of this year.

According to reports, the Ministry of Defence has said that 70 percent of the total amount due has been put on hold until the finalization of the CBI report.

Finmeccanica and its subsidiaries are likely to be blacklisted by the Indian government after the Italian authorities found Orsi to have paid $68 million in bribes, to Indian officials to ensure that AgustaWestland secured the VVIP helicopter deal, about 8 per cent of the total price.

Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony, said, “We cannot set a time line. But we asked the CBI for an early enquiry. We will wait at least for a preliminary report and act on that.”