By Vivek Raghuvanshi
NEW DELHI — India has put on hold payment for nine of the 12 VVIP helicopters it had contracted in 2010 from AgustaWestland for $720 million pending closure of an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s anti-fraud agency. The probe was ordered Feb. 12 after the arrest of Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi in Italy on alleged corruption charges.
India has already received three of the 12 helicopters and the remaining nine are due to be delivered by year end. Ministry of Defence sources said 70 percent of the total amount due has been put on hold until the finalization of the CBI report.
While an executive of the Italian company said they will continue to do business as usual, analysts here say it won’t be long before the company is blacklisted from doing business in India.
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