Contract cancelled, rebid in process.
The saga continued......................
"There is no official statement regarding the cancellation. We have no official information," Eurocopter's senior vice president for Asia sales, Norbert Ducrot, told reporters.
"I have never received any statement that I have read in the press," he said, insisting that Eurocopter was still "in the price negotiation phase" with the Indian Ministry of Defence.
The ministry has not said publicly why the deal was scrapped, but senior defence sources and press reports have alleged Eurocopter used a local go-between despite an Indian ban on the use of middlemen in defence deals.
Eurocopter, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), was also accused of presenting a civilian helicopter instead of a military version for statutory field trials by the Indian army.
But Ducrot noted that "I am sure the two other contenders have not been pleased" to have lost the bid, referring to US firm Bell and Russia's Kamov.
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