New Delhi: Defence Minister George Fernandes hinted that reasons other than price and US equipment on Hawks may be delaying the induction of the much-needed British Advance Jet Trainer (AJT) for the Indian Air Force.

Saying that nearly "half a dozen aircraft could now be said to be in contention for the multi-billion Pound deal", he remarked, "It is not the price or the sanitisation of American Turbo engines in the British Aerospace Hawks" that is holding up the deal.

Speaking on the sidelines of an IDSA lecture in New Delhi, Fernandes said, "I am at my wits end."

He expressed fears that any re-opening of the deal could take years, while Indian Air Force (IAF) advanced pilot training suffered.

The Defence Minister said as far as his ministry was concerned, it had made ready its recommendations for submission to the Cabinet Committee on Security.

During the informal chat with reporters, he also frowned upon recent comments by the top IAF brass that the service was ready to evaluate any aircraft systems.

India which plans to purchase 66 AJT has been in negotiations with the British Aerospace for Hawk 200 jets for the last 12 years. The Minister had recently said that price negotiations with the British company had been completed.

However, the Cezh-US L-159 made a late contention bid for the Indian deal citing almost 20 per cent less price than the Hawks and claiming that unlike the Hawks, which had almost 25 year old technology, its trainers were up-to-date in technology having just been inducted into service.

Besides the British Hawks and Czech L-159, some other countries like Polish Iskara, Russian MIG-AT and Italian Aeromachi MB154 have also sent in new tenders to the Defence Ministry.

The deal, which was conceptualised almost 22 years ago, had earlier got stuck with India insisting that the British sanitise the Hawks of all American components including its General Electric turbo jet engines in wake of US government freezing sale of vital spares for British made Sea King and Harrier jump jets post-Pokhran nuclear tests.

PTI