Buying Tatra trucks directly from manufacturer under consideration: Defence Ministry

NEW DELHI: A final decision on a proposal to procure Tatra trucks directly from the original equipment manufacturer in Czech Republic is yet to be taken, Defence Ministry said today.

"The proposal in this regard is under consideration of the Defence Ministry and a final decision on this issue would be taken later," a Defence Ministry official said here.

According to the proposal, the government is planning to procure the vehicles directly from the company manufacturing them instead of buying through agent firms.

One of the agent companies selling the Tatra trucks to the Indian Army had come under cloud after former Army chief Gen V K Singh alleged that he was offered a Rs 14-crore bribe to clear a file related to the procurement of these vehicles, prompting the government to order a CBI probe into the issue.

The validity of a pact between Bangalore-based PSU BEML and UK-based Tatra Sipox was over on December 17 and according to plans, the Defence Ministry is expected to order the trucks from the Tatra Truck Company of the Czech Republic.

Due to a hold on procurement of Tatra trucks from the UK-based company, the maintenance of the fleet of over 6,500 such trucks in India was getting adversely affected due to lack of spares and other parts.

After the allegation was made last year, the government had decided to put on hold the procurement of the trucks pending the CBI inquiry.