NEW DELHI: Swedish Armaments manufacturer Bofors AB is still interested in the Indian market, despite media reports that the controversial company is in the process of winding up its operations here.
Sources associated with Bofors, whose Indian operations have been bedeviled by allegations that it paid kickbacks on the sale of howitzers to the Indian Army, said that “no such decision has been taken as yet.”
The sources remarked that considering the extent of the controversy dogging the firm, it was possible that Bofors might be trying “to create a smokescreen behind which it can withdraw, by throwing out periodic hints about withdrawal and disappointment with the Indian Government’s attitude.
Bofors, which has always been selective about clients (selling only 10 a select circle of NATO countries and others which are considered “friendly” and “stable” by the Swedish Foreign Office, apparently still considers India to be a “major market,” though it “appreciates that the ongoing investigations will hold up opening up of business ties.”
In Asia, Bofors has consistently avoided trouble spots and “unstable areas” such as the Gulf, Cambodia and Pakistan. Sources said Bofors AB considers India to be an “extremely balanced State” and hence has made an exception by supplying guns to this country.
The Indian Army at present is facing problems of a different kind with the 410 155 mm guns it had bought. As the Indian Government has banned any further dealings with Bofors AB, spares and ammunition originally imported for the 155 mm guns are fast getting depleted. With no possibilities of replacement in the near future, this has meant mothballing of a number of Bofors guns.
Under the contract signed with Bofors, India is supposed to receive the entire knowhow for manufacture of spares and the specialized ammunition needed for the hitech gun. However, the blanket ban imposed by the Indian Government has stalled moves for a transfer of technology. Swedish Government authorities had earlier this year approached the Indian Government seeking a lifting of the ban, on the grounds that Bofors AB is now a nationalized company and its management is different from the one which struck the howitzer deal with India.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 17, 1993
