Someone made money in Agusta deal: AK Antony

KOCHI: Defence Minister AK Antony has admitted that corruption may have taken place in the `3,700-crore helicopter deal with AgustaWestland, appearing to confirm a recent news report that said CBI’s investigations into the case had established bribes had been paid.

“I do feel somebody has taken money. The inquiry is at a crucial stage. We will not show mercy to anybody and will take action however powerful he may be,” Antony was quoted by news agencies as telling in Kochi. The minister also said his ministry was in the final stages of preparing the New Procurement Policy, which will aggressively’ pursue indigenisation. This, if adopted, will run counter to a recent suggestion by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma’s strong pitch to raise the foreign investment limit in the defence sector to 74% from 26% now. “We are also very very particular to aggressively pursue indigenisation, especially after our many experiences... The new procedures will give further impetus and a new momentum to indiginisation,” he said.

Sharma, according to news reports, had recently written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for further liberalisation of the FDI policy in defence, saying the present FDI limit of 26% was not enough.