NEW DELHI, JULY 20: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expected to finalise contracts this week for purchase of a huge quantity of spares for the 155-mm Bofors guns with the Swedish Government arms company, Celsius. A senior representative of the company, which had taken over ownership of Bofors AB in 1991, is in New Delhi for negotiations and said he hoped to sign the contract for spares during his current visit to India.Celsius has offered, as per the MoD's warranty claim, to supply spares in exchange for the estimated $7 million worth Bofors ammunition which was defective. Director Regional Marketing Goran Lundholm told The Indian Express that this couldn't be done earlier because of the blacklisting of Bofors following the kickbacks scandal.``Since negotiations are on, I still do not know what the contract for spares will be worth,'' Lundholm said. ``It's entirely possible the MoD will be satisfied with the spares we provide them in exchange for the defective ammunition, but even then we willcompensate the Indian Government and honour the old agreement.''He said that most of the Bofors ammunition for which warranty was being claimed had defective tri-nitrotoluene (TNT) in it and that once the ban on Bofors was lifted by the MoD-and negotiations had begun-they had offered the spares in exchange.He said that the MoD wanted spares for the 410 155-mm howitzers as of ``yesterday,'' but that Celsius would be in a position to supply them in a month or so. Lundholm said that the MoD has already given a long list of spares-from entire artillery sub-systems to screws-but added there have been no discussions on supply of Bofors ammunition or for indigenous manufacture of the 155-mm howitzers as yet.In a letter dated June 2 to Defence Minister George Fernandes, Celsius offered spares and ammunition (including the High Explosive Extended Range (HEER) ammunition at a ``short notice'' and had offered to send a delegation to New Delhi for negotiations. Lundolm had held preliminary discussions withMoD top brass earlier this month and said he was now setting up appointments with a host of officials again. ``There are too many people who suddenly want to meet me. But spares are in short supply and we will try and meet commitments in a month or so,'' he said.As far as ammunition was concerned, he said while Celsius had offered the entire range suitable for howitzers, the MoD said it was confident about supplies from its own ordnance factories.Evidently enjoying the monopoly situation that Celsius enjoyed vis-a-vis Bofors spares, Lundholm denied reports that the MoD had been purchasing spares from other arms companies or middlemen. He said the MoD had signed a contract for spares with an Austrian firm for around $5 million but the company had, in turn, approached them. Besides India, the 155 mm FH 77 Bofors system is being used by the Swedish and Nigerian armies.``When the Indian Government gave the Austrians the contract, they wanted to buy the spares from us. But we wanted a end-user certificatefrom the Ministry of Defence and since that could not be given, the contract was cancelled.''He said while it is true the Kargil war gave a fillip to their negotiations with the MoD, the fact was that the ban was lifted on April 22, before the Kargil operations began. ``All these years we have been in touch with the MoD but the embargo blocked our way. Now that the politicians intervened to get the ban lifted, Celsius is in business again,'' he said.
