By IANS,
New Delhi : Commercial bids from two European manufactures left in contention for a $102 billion Indian order for 126 combat aircraft will be opened this month, a defence ministry official said Friday.
“The Defence Acquisition Council, at its meeting here today, approved the opening of the commercial bids,” the official said after the panel’s meeting chaired by Defence Minister A.K. Antony.
“The meeting also approved the offsets evaluation report submitted by the two manufacturers,” the official added.
“All the spadework for opening the two commercial bids has been completed. The bids will be opened in the next few days in the presence of the two vendors,” the official said.
The Eurofighter Typhoon manufactured by European consortium EADS and the French Dassault’s Rafale are the two contenders left in the fray for the Indian Air Force order.
These were selected from the original contenders, which included the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Lockheed Martin F-16 Super Viper, the Saab Grippen and the MiG-35.