A year after registering a case for alleged irregularities in the Rs.

8,399-crore deal struck by the

erstwhile Indian Airlines with Airbus Industrie for supply of 43 passenger planes, the entral
!ureau of In"estigation #!I$ has decided to send a tea% to the &.'. to record the state%ent of a
top e(ecuti"e of the )uropean consortiu%.
*In"estigations conducted so far ha"e thrown up so%e +uestions on the basis of which we will
seek clarifications fro% Airbus e(ecuti"e "ice-president 'iran Rao,, said a senior !I official
here on -hursday. -he %o"e indicates that the in"estigation is being speeded up. -he deal was
finalised during the &.A-I regi%e when /. leader .raful .atel was the i"il A"iation
0inister.
-he deal ca%e under the !I scanner, and the agency registered a case in 0arch 1233 against
se"en senior functionaries of Indian Airlines, which was later %erged with Air India, and Airbus.
-he !I had about three years ago instituted a preli%inary in+uiry into the delay in fulfil%ent of
certain conditions of the contract re+uiring Airbus to assist in the setting up of a %aintenance,
repair and o"erhaul unit, a warehouse and a training centre at a total cost of 4356 %illion. Airbus
then denied charges of any irregularity.
*7hile the preli%inary in+uiry was concluded in 1231, the i"il A"iation 0inistry granted
per%ission to prosecute the airline officials in 1233, following which a regular case was
registered,, the official said.
In its .erfor%ance Audit Report on i"il A"iation in India #1233-31$, the o%ptroller and
Auditor-8eneral of India said9 *-he co%%it%ents %ade by Airbus regarding creation of 0R:
and training facilities were +uite open-ended. &nlike the other clauses, there was no %ention of a
ti%efra%e by which such facilities will be created ; It was not clear who or what co%bination
of pro%oters #Airbus and<or other entities$ would together %ake up the re+uired in"est%ent.,
-he clearance to go ahead with the deal was gi"en in =epte%ber 1226 by an )%powered 8roup
of 0inisters, headed by the then >inance 0inister, .. hida%bara%. -he )8o0 nod ca%e after
it concluded talks with an Airbus delegation. At that ti%e, 0r. .atel said Indian Airlines could
go ahead with the purchase of 39 A-339, four A312 and 12 A-313 aircraft. -he new passenger
?etliners were %eant to replace 52 per cent of Indian Airlines fleet.
'eywords9 Airbus probe, Indian Airlines-Airbus deal, !I probe, .erfor%ance Audit Report on
i"il A"iation in India, )8o0 nod