indian_foxhound
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In the wake of several lost tenders India's No. 1
weapons supplier, Russia, is likely to change
tactics in its efforts to compete, a senior official
in New Delhi said. Moscow is "livid" and quite concerned about
losing several big ticket Indian defense contracts
recently, the official said in an interview,
on condition of anonymity because he is not
authorized to speak to the media. Russian officials have said they will change their
strategy and focus mainly on government-to-
government defense purchase contracts that do
not involve competitive bidding, rather than
continue to be outmaneuvered in deals on the
Indian defense market which are increasingly taking the form of highly competitive global
tenders, according to the Indian source, who is
close to bilateral discussions on the topic. By leveraging the considerable political
and diplomatic clout that Moscow has with New
Delhi, Russia believes it will be better able to get
a large share of some of the sizable contracts
awarded directly by the government, as opposed
to those resulting from competitive tenders issued by major Indian defense firms, the source
said. Commenting in an interview with Kommersant
last week on Russia's options as a defense
industry supplier, Indian Foreign Affairs Minister
Salman Kurshid said, "There are strategic spheres
in which intergovernmental agreements are still
important. But in open societies, such as ours, it is important that there be transparency and public
scrutiny, provided for by tenders." However, India is likely to sign
an intergovernmental contract with Russia
for three more Talwar class frigates after next
month's expected delivery of the frigate
Trikand the final ship to be delivered under
a contract signed in 2006 to build three frigates for $ 1.6 billion. The new deal for the frigates is
estimated to cost more than $2 billion. Another bilateral deal signed in December 2012
will see Russia sell India 71 MI-17 V-5 military
helicopters worth $1.3 billion and $1.6 billion
worth of kits so India can assemble 42 Sukhoi
SU-30MKI fighter aircraft. The Russians have cited the example of the
United States' approach to arms sales in India.
Moscow believes that much of the current U.S.
portfolio of $20 billion of orders in India is
because of the very close strategic ties between
those two countries. The Americans have sold defense equipment
to India worth around $8 billion in the past five
years alone. All these contracts have been under
Washington's foreign military sales program
which is effectively a government-to-
government route. Russian officials have told their Indian
counterparts that they are taking a lesson
from the results of the past two years in doing
business with the burgeoning Indian defense
industry. Israeli, American and European companies have
won out over Russian bids in many big-ticket
Indian defense deals. In several cases, Russian
companies did not even manage to be among
the top three international companies shortlisted.
In some instances the Russians were knocked out of the competition in the preliminary stage. One case involved the Medium Multi Role Combat
Aircraft, or MMRCA deal, whose total value is
expected to be around $ 20 billion. Russia's
Mikoyan MiG 35 was one of the six aircraft that
participated in the MMRCA tender but did not
make the shortlist, which contained the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale.
The latter won the deal. Russia is also miffed that a small country like
Israel has become India's second largest defense
supplier, the Indian official said. The Israelis have
managed to bag orders worth $10 billion
from the Indians in past decade many of these
through the government-to-government route. Both Israel and No. 3 weapons supplier
the United States are breathing down the necks
of the Russians and may soon dislodge Moscow
from the pole position if more big deals go awry
for the Russians.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/busin...d-weaponry-supplier-role-in-india/479557.html
weapons supplier, Russia, is likely to change
tactics in its efforts to compete, a senior official
in New Delhi said. Moscow is "livid" and quite concerned about
losing several big ticket Indian defense contracts
recently, the official said in an interview,
on condition of anonymity because he is not
authorized to speak to the media. Russian officials have said they will change their
strategy and focus mainly on government-to-
government defense purchase contracts that do
not involve competitive bidding, rather than
continue to be outmaneuvered in deals on the
Indian defense market which are increasingly taking the form of highly competitive global
tenders, according to the Indian source, who is
close to bilateral discussions on the topic. By leveraging the considerable political
and diplomatic clout that Moscow has with New
Delhi, Russia believes it will be better able to get
a large share of some of the sizable contracts
awarded directly by the government, as opposed
to those resulting from competitive tenders issued by major Indian defense firms, the source
said. Commenting in an interview with Kommersant
last week on Russia's options as a defense
industry supplier, Indian Foreign Affairs Minister
Salman Kurshid said, "There are strategic spheres
in which intergovernmental agreements are still
important. But in open societies, such as ours, it is important that there be transparency and public
scrutiny, provided for by tenders." However, India is likely to sign
an intergovernmental contract with Russia
for three more Talwar class frigates after next
month's expected delivery of the frigate
Trikand the final ship to be delivered under
a contract signed in 2006 to build three frigates for $ 1.6 billion. The new deal for the frigates is
estimated to cost more than $2 billion. Another bilateral deal signed in December 2012
will see Russia sell India 71 MI-17 V-5 military
helicopters worth $1.3 billion and $1.6 billion
worth of kits so India can assemble 42 Sukhoi
SU-30MKI fighter aircraft. The Russians have cited the example of the
United States' approach to arms sales in India.
Moscow believes that much of the current U.S.
portfolio of $20 billion of orders in India is
because of the very close strategic ties between
those two countries. The Americans have sold defense equipment
to India worth around $8 billion in the past five
years alone. All these contracts have been under
Washington's foreign military sales program
which is effectively a government-to-
government route. Russian officials have told their Indian
counterparts that they are taking a lesson
from the results of the past two years in doing
business with the burgeoning Indian defense
industry. Israeli, American and European companies have
won out over Russian bids in many big-ticket
Indian defense deals. In several cases, Russian
companies did not even manage to be among
the top three international companies shortlisted.
In some instances the Russians were knocked out of the competition in the preliminary stage. One case involved the Medium Multi Role Combat
Aircraft, or MMRCA deal, whose total value is
expected to be around $ 20 billion. Russia's
Mikoyan MiG 35 was one of the six aircraft that
participated in the MMRCA tender but did not
make the shortlist, which contained the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale.
The latter won the deal. Russia is also miffed that a small country like
Israel has become India's second largest defense
supplier, the Indian official said. The Israelis have
managed to bag orders worth $10 billion
from the Indians in past decade many of these
through the government-to-government route. Both Israel and No. 3 weapons supplier
the United States are breathing down the necks
of the Russians and may soon dislodge Moscow
from the pole position if more big deals go awry
for the Russians.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/busin...d-weaponry-supplier-role-in-india/479557.html
