January 15, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 05, 1429

NEW DELHI, Jan 14: India on Monday said it had invited proposals from global weapons manufacturers for the purchase of 140 ultra-light artillery guns as part of a $2.5 billion programme to upgrade its ageing military hardware.

Indian army chief Deepak Kapoor said global tenders for 260 other guns would be issued sometime this month as part of the costly but essential modernisation.

Earlier, defence ministry officials quoting General Kapoor had said the 140 guns would cost $2.5 billion but later amended the figures to say that cost was for all 400 pieces.

“The RFP (request for proposals) for the procurement of 140 ultra-light howitzer guns has been issued,” General Kapoor told reporters on the sidelines of a military function.

“The army will issue global tenders shortly for the procurement of the 155-millimetre (six-inch) howitzers,” he said and added a separate bid for 155 “advanced guns” — or heavy weaponry — would be also floated in “a month or so”.

Military sources said New Delhi would purchase a part of the consignment off the shelf while the rest would be manufactured under licence in India.

The announcement kickstarts the million-plus army's plans to modernise its ageing Soviet-era equipment, analysts said.

India in 2001 floated global tenders for 400 guns but scrapped the contract last year after testing the hardware sent by Israeli, British and South African firms vying for the deal, which was quoted at $1.5bn.

South Africa's state-owned Denel armament firm has also been blacklisted by India on charges of corruption in a separate weapons deal.

General Kapoor admitted the delay had hit the modernisation programme of the army, which is locked in a bloody combat with militants in occupied Kashmir.

The Indian army has not bought heavy weaponry since 1986 when the purchase of 410 artillery guns worth $1.23bn from then-Swedish firm Bofors sparked allegations that politicians took bribes to clinch the deal.

The scandal contributed to the collapse of the government of then-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1989, which prompted a permanent ban on middlemen in defence deals.

Last month, India said it had scrapped a $600-million deal to buy 197 military helicopters from EADS arm Eurocopter due to allegations of corruption in the bidding process.

The cancellation came after a court ordered Indian police to complete a probe into charges that a bribe was also paid in a three-billion dollar deal to buy six Scorpene submarines from a French defence firm.—AFP