AgustaWestland welcomes arbitration on scrapped deal

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian defence group Finmeccanica said on Thursday its AgustaWestland unit welcomed India's decision to take part in an arbitration process over a $770 million helicopter deal.

"AgustaWestland... confirms having received yesterday from India's Ministry of Defence notification concerning the appointment of an arbitrator from its side," Finmeccanica said in a statement.

India cancelled the chopper deal with AgustaWestland on Wednesday over what it termed a breach of integrity, but agreed to participate in an arbitration process. (Read details http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/01/01/agustawestland-chopper-deal-cancelled-so-idINDEEA0004F20140101)

AgustaWestland did not believe the contract termination notice issued by the Defence Ministry or the "show cause notice" provided an adequate basis for taking action against it, Finmeccanica said.

But it said it remained committed to working with the India to resolve the issues.

"AgustaWestland is ready to take the necessary actions, on top of the above-mentioned arbitration measures, included in a mitigation plan already prepared," it said.

India froze payments for 12 AW101 helicopters after Finmeccanica's then chief executive was arrested in February for allegedly paying bribes to secure the deal.

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes)