Government To Cancel All Defence Tenders Bagged By Finmeccanica

Manohar Parrikar has said that the process for blacklisting Finmeccanica and its subsidiaries has already begun.

An Agusta-Westland AW139 helicopter. (Photo: Reuters)

• The government has cancelled all ongoing tenders for defence equipment won by Italy’s Finmeccanica as a precursor to blacklisting the firm. The firm is being investigated for bribery charges in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal scam.
  
  
• Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that the process for blacklisting Finmeccanica and its subsidiaries is underway. In this regard, a note has been sent to the Law Ministry.
  
  
• Manohar Parrikar has also said the Indian government will continue to depend on the firm for annual maintenance and import of spare parts of already acquired defence supplies. Fresh capital acquisition, however, is being nixed.
  

(With PTI inputs.)