Raytheon aircraft deal comes under fire

The Uttarkhand government's deal with US-based Raytheon for the purchase of a Super King Air B200 has come under fire.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pulled up Uttarakhand's civil aviation department for purchasing the aircraft from Raytheon that resulted in Rs 22.48 crore getting blocked and an additional expenditure of Rs 20.99 lakh on its maintenance.

Significantly, the order for the purchase of the aircraft was placed during the tenure of the Congress government.

In its latest repot, CAG said that prior to the purchase of the Super King aircraft, the department did not float any global tenders nor did it take into consideration the fact that Jolly Grant airport was not fit for use.

Jolly Grant airport is presently being upgraded and is closed for air traffic for the past one year.

"The option of global tender was not even considered in the rush to buy the aircraft and the model (Super King B200) was pre-decided even before the formation of the technical committee," the CAG said in its report.

The CAG noticed that since the Jolly Grant airport at Dehra Dun was not fit for use, the aircraft, the sanction for which was given on Dec 12, 2005, remained parked at Delhi airport till May 2007.