-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) were opened here on Friday by the Defence Ministry in the presence of the representatives of two contenders including Rafale (France) and Eurofighter (consortium of UK, Germany, Spain and Italy).
However, the lowest bidder amongst the two will emerge after six to eight weeks after the Contract Negotiation Committee(CNC) of the Defence Ministry comprising officials of directorate of acquisition, IAF and defence finance scrutinises the price quoted by the competitors.
The contract is likely to fructify before the end of the current financial year after intense negotiations and clearance by the finance ministry and Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) headed by the prime minister.
The basic unit price and some other broad details quoted by the two competitors were announced in the presence of the two contenders, sources said adding life cycle cost will be a major consideration in determining the winner. The life cycle cost, factored into a defence contract in India for the first time, includes the performance of the aircraft over a span of more than 40 years and nearly 8,000 hours of flying.
Defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said commercial bids were opened by the CNC. The defence ministry will now examine and evaluate the bids to arrive at the lowest bidder, he said.
Kar, however, refrained from disclosing the unit price and said confidentiality clause is applicable to all the stake holders in the proposed deal including the bureaucrats, vendors and IAF officers.
Explaining the time taken for announcing the lowest bidder, they said the defence ministry will go through more than 1,000 documents submitted by both the bidders. These documents will cover the price of all items ranging from engine to spare parts, avionics and weaponry and a thorough study is needed before taking a decision, sources said
The government has set a bench mark figure for the contract but the vendors were not informed about it on Friday, sources said adding the initial contract price was set at Rs. 42,000 crore in 2007. Given inflation and other factors, the proposed deal has already touched Rs. 48,000 crore plus mark and the government can provide more money if need be, they said.
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