The Times of India is reporting that the tender for 16 helicopters for the Indian Coast Guard has been stopped.  With just two manufacturers bidding – local HAL with the Dhruv and Eurocopter with the AS565MB Panther – the defence ministry has reportedly found the Panther to be non-compliant in some aspects of the tender requirements.  Leaving just one bidder means that the ministry could not go ahead as single-vendor tenders are not allowed by the defence procurement procedures.

The Indian Coast Guard is expected to revisit the specifications and issue new tender documents in 2013.

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com