Agencies

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force in two major deals ‘modified’ and ‘aligned’ its requirements to the specifications of the Apache Attack and Chinook Heavy Lift helicopters offered by US aerospace manufacturer, Boeing, the Comptroller and Auditor General has said.In a twist for AgustaWestland that is under a CBI inquiry for alleged corruption in another helicopter deal, the CAG report said the UK manufacturer could have met all the requirements when it came to the acquisition of the attack helicopters for which it was competing in 2009. AgustaWestland was banned from competitions in India in 2013 after the scam came to lighThe CAG in a report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday pointed out that what the IAF did is contrary to what has been laid down in the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP). The CAG explained that the DPP says that the user requirements, which in these cases are called ‘Air Staff Qualitative Requirements’ (ASQR), must be ‘broad based’ and not be ‘tailored for a particular product’. The qualitative requirements need to take into account global technologies and broadening the vendor base in an acquisition. Importantly, creating ASQRs is the most crucial stage in the defence acquisition process as it determines the quality, price and competition.Another procedure was not followed as well. The CAG report, which contains audit results on IAF capital acquisitions between 2012 and 2018, states that for procuring the Chinooks the benchmark price for direct acquisition was revised to almost match Boeing’s price. The CAG pointed out that revising the benchmark price after opening the price bids was ‘incorrect’. It also questioned the capability of the Chinooks, which will be replacing the IAF’s existing Mi-26 helicopters. It said that the Chinook’s lift capability is lower than that of the Mi-26s, meaning it would take more number of sorties for dropping the same load, resulting in more money being spent.India in 2015 had cleared the purchase of 22 Apaches and 15 Chinook helicopters for the IAF, worth $2.5 billion from the US. The first four Chinooks arrived in India on Sunday.The CAG said, “in case of acquisition of Apache Attack Helicopters and Chinook Heavy Lift Helicopters, the ASQRs were aligned to products of a particular vendor.”It added that the IAF while revising ASQRs in 2009 for buying attack helicopters had removed some parameters on Boeing’s suggestion, at the cost of a rival competitor. “IAF deleted three parameters and diluted one operational parameter based on the suo moto suggestion of Boeing, USA, though AgustaWestland was able to meet these parameters,” it said.Boeing had earlier said that it would not respond to the Request for Proposal with these parameters.The CAG also said that the US government will deliver expired missiles for the Apaches to India. “The US government is supplying missile from their stock whose normal life of 10 years has expired,” it said.On the Chinooks, the CAG said that the qualitative requirements matched those of these helicopters. The report said that while the defence ministry said no operational parameters were compromised, it didn’t contest that the ASQRs were aligned to the Chinook. However, the CAG pointed out that the Chinook didn’t meet eight critical requirements. “Despite these non-compliances, both Mi-26 (offered by Rosoboronexport) and Chinook were cleared based on the assurance of the vendor to rectify the ASQR non-compliance before delivery,” it said.Even the benchmark pricing procedure was not followed. Boeing had emerged as the L1 vendor (lowest bidder). “CNC (read as Contract Negotiating Committee) found that as against the benchmark Direct Acquisition Cost of $737.64 million, the price quoted by Boeing was $1206.918 million and that of ROE (Rosoboronexport) was 1064.351 million euros. Since the price quoted by Boeing was much higher than the benchmarked price, the benchmark price for direct acquisition was revised from $737.64 million to $1196.21, which almost matched the price of Boeing. Revision of benchmark price after opening of the price bids was incorrect,” said the CAG.