Indian Air Force chief Naik expects MMRCA decision by September

At an interaction with the media at Aero India 2011, Chief of the Indian Air Force P.V. Naik indicated that commercial negotiations on the 126 aircraft medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) tender of the Indian Air Force, will commence in a week or two.

Indicating the file was with the Ministry of Finance, he said he was expecting a decision by September this year unless “dissatisfied vendors put at spoke in the wheel (sic)”.

The chief indicated that all the issues surrounding the offsets have been resolved. When the assembled journalists pointed out that the various contender companies were not hopeful of a decision before 2013, the chief said, he was confident of a decision by September assuming things went smoothly, but given the scale of various scams buffeting the current UPA government, his demeanour reflected an almost certainty that one of the losers of this hotly contested tender, would “put a spoke in the wheels” and then matters may get delayed.

Talking about the multiple helicopter procurements in progress, the chief informed:

About Devesh Agarwal

A electronics and automotive product management, marketing and branding expert, he was awarded a silver medal at the Lockheed Martin innovation competition 2010. He is ranked 6th on Mashable's list of aviation pros on Twitter and in addition to Bangalore Aviation, he has contributed to leading publications like Aviation Week, Conde Nast Traveller India, The Economic Times, and The Mint (a Wall Street Journal content partner). He remains a frequent flier and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about the Indian aviation industry without fear or favour.

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