New Delhi: In a sharp reaction to scam-tainted Finmeccanica’s warning to reassess ongoing projects of supplying components to India, the government today said that the government was not one to be bogged down by any such threats.
The government has initiated the process of blacklisting the Italian firm following revelations opf bribery in the AgustaWestland scam. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said the government has decided to cancel all ongoing tenders for defence equipment won by Finmeccanica.
“If you have any queries on this, the Defence Ministry, in appropriate manner, will respond to it. But let me say one thing as spokesperson of the Union Cabinet that our government does not get scared of any threat,” Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
He was responding to a question on Italy’s Finmeccanica, tainted in the alleged VVIP helicopter scam, warning of reassessing its ongoing projects of supplying components and essential services if an “agreed and transparent solution” was not found in the backdrop of on-going blacklisting process.
In a statement on Tuesday, the firm said that despite the “context of uncertainty”, it has over the past few years continued to supply components and services essential to ensuring the operation of platforms and equipment for the Indian armed forces “in the spirit of cooperation”.
However, the company had said if there was no “agreed and transparent solution” then “the company will not refrain from assessing the situation given the limited size of the ongoing business in the country.”
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said the government has decided to cancel all ongoing tenders for defence equipment won by Finmeccanica as a precursor to blacklisting of the firm, which is being investigated for bribery in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal.
Parrikar had said that only fresh capital acquisition was being cancelled and the firm would continue to conduct annual maintenance and supply spare parts for defence supplies already acquired.
