Six defence companies blacklisted: Antony

New Delhi, Mar 29 (ANI): Defence Minister A.K Antony on Thursday said that six companies - four foreign and two Indian - have been blacklisted from the defence procurement process for 10 years for alleged involvement in a multi-crore ordnance factory scam.

"Six companies have been blacklisted for 10 years by the government. The banned entities included four foreign companies and two Indian companies and the action against them was taken following recommendations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)," Antony said at a press conference at the DEFEXPO here.

"In the process of procurement, if it is established at any stage of the contract that there is malpractice then we will cancel the contract. Even after signing the contract if anything is found we will take action, we have very strong safe guards," he said.

"We have cancelled many major contracts following corruption charges. We have very strong safeguards on integrity form. For any contract beyond Rs 100 crore integrity pact is a must. In the integrity pact, strongest action will be taken against anybody found to be involved in malpractice. We will protect our interest and money," he added

Antony further said that the current offset policy incorporated into defence contracts with foreign companies need to be expanded, as the present policy would not be able to absorb the ongoing offset amount.

The six blacklisted companies include the Singapore Technologies, Israeli Military Industry, Germany's Rheinmetall Air Defence, Corporation Defence of Russia, Delhi-based T S Kisan and Co Pvt Ltd and R K Machine Tools of Ludhiana. (ANI)