India may scrap Italy chopper deal

India yesterday threatened to cancel a deal to purchase 12 helicopters from the Italian firm Finmeccanica if an official inquiry proved the contract worth nearly $750 million was secured through kickbacks.
"If we find any evidence of corruption then we will blacklist the company and even cancel the deal," Defence Minister A K Antony told reporters in New Delhi.
"We don't want to jump the gun... (but) we can get our money back at any stage."
India's government announced Tuesday that it had ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe reports of alleged bribery of government officials by Finmeccanica, after the head of the Italian aerospace giant was arrested.
Italian media reports said the company's chairman and chief executive Giuseppe Orsi had been detained as part of an investigation into alleged kickbacks paid to Indian government officials.
Italian prosecutors were reported to suspect that bribes worth around 10 percent of the deal were paid to ensure Finmeccanica's AgustaWestland helicopter unit won the contract.
Under the terms of a deal signed in 2010 and valued at $748-million, the entire fleet should be delivered by 2014. India has already received three of the 12 helicopters which were meant to be used to transport top politicians.
The 2010 deal was cleared by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and later vetted by the defence and the finance ministries.
Indian newspapers quoted from the 64-page Italian probe report on Wednesday, stating that former air force chief S P Tyagi was bribed to swing the deal.
Tyagi said he welcomed the Indian inquiry but denied any wrongdoing.