Two days after the BJP attacked the Government for clearing a tie-up between Tata Sons and AgustaWestland, which is facing allegations of wrongdoing in the VVIP helicopter scam, the Defence Ministry on Wednesday asked the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to defer its decision on the joint venture.
The FIPB had approved the proposal of Indian Rotorcraft, a joint venture between Tata Sons (74 per cent) and AgustaWestland (26 per cent) for assembling upgraded military and civilian helicopters.
Expressing its unhappiness over the approval, the Defence Ministry wrote a letter to FIPB to defer the decision, officials said. The letter comes in the backdrop of show cause notice issued to AgustaWestland by the Ministry for violating the integrity pact regarding the Rs 3,600 crore deal for 12 VVIP helicopters for the IAF. Italian Government and the CBI are investigating into allegations of Rs 360 crore paid as bribe to bag the contract signed in 2010.
The BJP attacked the Government on Monday saying, "This company (AgustaWestland) should have been blacklisted and all deals be scrapped till the probe gets over, but the UPA is acting to the contrary. The Tata-AgustaWestland deal not only affects the investigations but legitimises a rogue company."
The Opposition party also asked Congress to explain its personal interest in getting this approval done. AgustaWestland's parent company Finmeccanica is being investigated in India in a Defence scam.
"We take strong objection on this move by the UPA Government. The FIPB approval has to be seen in the light of scam charges involving Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland's parent company, being investigated," BJP spokesperson Meenakshi lekhi had said.
lekhi pointed out that the Defence Ministry has issued a final show cause notice to Augusta Westland for violating the terms of the contract and the terms of the pre-integrity pact and the contract for procurement of 12 VVIP choppers,
The FIPB, according to sources, observed in its minutes that "law will take its own course and the current FIPB consideration is without prejudice to any existing or future civil or criminal proceedings against the foreign investor or its parent". The proposal will now be placed before the Finance Minister for a final nod.