NEW DELHI — India has withdrawn the tender for a much-awaited contract for the purchase of six multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) aircraft with Airbus Defence and Space, worth more than $1 billion, on grounds of the planes' high operational cost.



This is the second MRTT aircraft global tender to be cancelled by the ministry of defense since 2006.



"We have [recently] cancelled the MRTT deal with Airbus because platforms are too expensive and not economically viable to operate", said an MoD official who declined to be identified.



"We have examined this deal very carefully and the [budgetary] approval has been rejected thrice by the Indian finance ministry," the MoD official said.