Reported
by Nitin Gokhale, Updated: March 30, 2012 18:03 IST
New Delhi: Since army chief General VK Singh
said that he had been offered a bribe of 14 crores to clear
"sub-standard" trucks, the army's purchase of 7000 Tatra trucks has
provoked new scrutiny. General Singh did not name the lobbyist who offered him
the kickback, or the company that he represented. But a few weeks ago, an army
press release accused a retired officer, Lt General; Tejinder Singh, of offering
bribes on behalf of Tatra-Vectra.
Since 1986, the army has
bought the Czech-manufactured trucks via a London company - a violation of
defense guidelines, which state that all equipment has to be bought directly
from the original manufacturer and middlemen cannot be involved. But for years, BEML, a defense public sector unit, has bought parts from
the London company and then assembled them in Bangalore before selling them to
the army.
A report in a Mumbai newspaper, DNA, says that in 2009, Defence Minister AK Antony was alerted to the fact that BEML was using a middleman in its Tatra truck procurement. The paper says that in October 2009, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was then Health Minister wrote to Mr Antony on behalf of their party president Sonia Gandhi and asked him to investigate the allegations.
Mrs Gandhi had received a complaint from a Karnataka union that said BEML, which is based in Bangalore, was using a UK agent. The defence ministry responded to say it would look into the matter. Since then, the ministry has not offered any explanation.
The controversy surrounding Tatra trucks is not entirely new. Military experts have complained repeatedly that the all-weather all-terrain trucks, used to transport troops and artillery, are tough to service. Some allegedly arrived with defective tyres in the army. Spare parts are tough to find. A Right to Information appeal accessed by NDTV shows that the trucks were sold to the army at 80 lakhs each, nearly twice their price in Europe, and three times what other manufacturers like Ashok Leland and Tata have offered for similar vehicles. In 2010, the defence ministry said that it was introducing an open bidding system for the supply of trucks. Tatra's lengthy monopoly ended. Four manufacturers including Tata, Ashok Leland and Tatra are now competing for the contract.
A report in a Mumbai newspaper, DNA, says that in 2009, Defence Minister AK Antony was alerted to the fact that BEML was using a middleman in its Tatra truck procurement. The paper says that in October 2009, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was then Health Minister wrote to Mr Antony on behalf of their party president Sonia Gandhi and asked him to investigate the allegations.
Mrs Gandhi had received a complaint from a Karnataka union that said BEML, which is based in Bangalore, was using a UK agent. The defence ministry responded to say it would look into the matter. Since then, the ministry has not offered any explanation.
The controversy surrounding Tatra trucks is not entirely new. Military experts have complained repeatedly that the all-weather all-terrain trucks, used to transport troops and artillery, are tough to service. Some allegedly arrived with defective tyres in the army. Spare parts are tough to find. A Right to Information appeal accessed by NDTV shows that the trucks were sold to the army at 80 lakhs each, nearly twice their price in Europe, and three times what other manufacturers like Ashok Leland and Tata have offered for similar vehicles. In 2010, the defence ministry said that it was introducing an open bidding system for the supply of trucks. Tatra's lengthy monopoly ended. Four manufacturers including Tata, Ashok Leland and Tatra are now competing for the contract.
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