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| Avro transport aircraft |
1 Potential Bidder So Far
By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI
NEW DELHI — India’s first attempt to operate a military aircraft-building program involving the domestic private sector appears to be a non-starter as only one potential foreign partner is likely to submit a bid, a Ministry of Defence source said.
With only Spain-based Airbus Defence and Space participating, the program would become a single-vendor contest, which MoD almost certainly would cancel.
On July 19, the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC), the MoD’s top weapons decision-making body, extended the deadline for filing bids to Aug. 28.
DAC reiterated that Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), the state-owned company that has long held a monopoly on local military aircraft manufacturing, would not be given the tender or made the sole production partner.
The DAC initially approved the program in July 2012 and paved the way for floating a global tender.
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