Tearing apart a $2.1 billion deal signed by the UPA to procure P8 I maritime reconnaissance aircraft, the central auditor has said in a report that deliberate attempts were made to favour US company Boeing over its Spanish competitor.In a scathing report, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said the Boeing was favoured as the defence ministry `enhanced’ a financial bid by EADS CASA, Spain to include a 20-year support package as well. This support package was not included in the Boeing offer, hence it turned up to be cheaper, the CAG has said in a report tabled in parliament today.“The contract was concluded with M/s Boeing, USA in January 2009 at MUSD 2,137.54. At a later date, M/s Boeing, USA offered the product support under a separate negotiable contract and consequently the deduced ranking of M/s Boeing, USA as L-1 turned out to be incorrect,” the report says.Coming down heavily on the deal, which was inked to meet urgent requirements of the navy for a long range recon platform, the CAG has also said that the Boeing has not met its offset obligations of $ 641 million till date, despite the contract specifying that all obligations have to be fulfilled by August 2016.More worryingly, the CAG has alleged that the American platform does not fully meet the requirements of the Indian Navy . “Owing to capability limitations of radars installed onboard, the aircraft is not able to achieve the envisaged coverage area requirements,” it saysSpecifying details, the report says that while torpedoes were procured as part of the deal, a critical ammunition for anti submarine warfare has not been procured even now. “In the absence of ‘X’ Bombs, the ASW capability of the aircraft could only be partially fulfilled,” it says. It also has observations on the limitations of sonabuoys ordered by the Navy.While the CAG observations are scathing, the Indian P8I fleet has seen exceptional service within the Navy and have been deployed on all key missions and exercises. Besides the eight ordered in 2009, India ordered an additional four in 2016 in a $ 1 billion deal.