Mumbai, July 13 (IANS) In a scathing indictment of administrative failure, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pulled up the Maharashtra government for severe lapses in contract management that left an Rs 82.78-crore helicopter — purchased specifically for anti-Naxalite operations — grounded for 17 months, draining an additional Rs 2.07 crore of taxpayer money.

The findings were detailed in the CAG’s Compliance Audit Report for the year 2024, which was tabled in the State Legislature on the concluding day of the three-week monsoon session last Friday (July 10).

The state government originally approved the procurement of the H-145 (VT-GOV) helicopter from Germany’s M/s Airbus Helicopters in May 2018 to bolster security forces navigating anti-Naxalite operations in Gadchiroli and neighbouring high-risk zones. The Rs 82.78-crore aircraft was delivered on September 18, 2019, successfully clearing its acceptance test flight a week later. However, severe oversight by the state’s Directorate of Aviation halted the mission before it could even begin. Under Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regulations, the helicopter could not legally fly without a valid certificate of airworthiness and a contracted, DGCA-approved Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) agency, according to the report.

Because the state had failed to hire one, the supplier was forced to put the brand-new helicopter into short-term preservation on September 26, 2019. It took the Directorate of Aviation nearly 10 months to finally appoint M/s Indamer Aviation Pvt Ltd as the MRO agency on July 13, 2020, noted the report.

The central auditor observed that the 10-month lag in securing an MRO meant the aircraft missed mandatory daily inspections and essential engine ground runs. Consequently, it lost its basic airworthiness. Before the helicopter could be cleared for flight, it had to undergo extensive and expensive Return to Service (RTS) protocols. Following DGCA approval in September 2020, the state was forced to pay an entirely avoidable Rs 2.07 crore just to make the grounded aircraft airworthy again.

“The delay of about ten months in finalising the MRO agency resulted in the helicopter not receiving the mandatory daily checks and engine ground runs required to maintain its airworthiness,” the CAG report stated, adding that the lapse “indicates inadequate planning and weak contract management in the Directorate of Aviation”.

According to the report, the airworthiness certificate was eventually issued on December 2, 2020, but the helicopter was not deployed into active duty until February 19, 2021 — nearly a year and a half after its delivery. The delay left frontline security forces in Naxal-affected areas without critical aerial support for over 17 months. Compounding the governance failure, the state’s Directorate of Aviation chose not to respond to the audit’s initial queries.

The CAG highlighted the issue in July 2024 and sent repeated reminders, all of which were ignored. The matter was subsequently escalated directly to the Maharashtra state government in September 2025, but an official reply is still awaited.

–IANS

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