The Defence Ministry has triggered a controversy by approving a Navy proposal to acquire torpedoes from a sister concern of AgustaWestland. The nod for Black Shark torpedoes manufactured by Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei (WASS) was given a week before the Agusta VVIP helicopter contract was cancelled on January 1.
The Navy wants 90 torpedoes worth over Rs 1, 800 crore for its Scorpene submarines and the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in its meeting on December 23 approved the long pending proposal. WASS is a sister concern of Agusta and both these firms besides many others are part of Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica
Asked about the approval, Officials said the decision was taken a week before cancellation of Agusta contract adding the Government had acted only against Agusta, an Anglo-Italian firm based in UK. Moreover, the proposal has to be cleared by the Finance Ministry and Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) before the contract is signed with WASS for the torpedoes, they said.
Questioning the decision about torpedoes, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar alleged the Congress Government was trying to compensate the Anglo-Italian firm after cancelling the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter contract. “This seems to be the new way of the Congress Government to give the company (AgustaWestland) a new order as compensation,” he said.
There have been several complaints against the particular torpedo deal as many MPs had written to the Defence Ministry alleging deviation from the laid-down procedures during trials. These complaints were sent by the Defence Ministry to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) for its comments and investigations into the procedures followed in the deal. The CVC cleared the proposal and then only the DAC gave its assent, officials said.