India to favour France for 1.5 bln euro war plane contract: Thales

New Delhi (ANTARA News) - India's government will announce this week it will favour France for a contract worth up to 1.5 billion euros (2.2 billion dollars) to upgrade its Mirage fighters, an official from the French defence firm Thales said Wednesday.
The announcement of a forthcoming tender reserved for the French is to coincide with a state visit to New Delhi by President Nicolas Sarkozy, said Francois Dupont, Thales' director in India.
Such a move will be a major a boost for Paris' efforts to remain a primary player in the burgeoning Indian defence market, following serious problems with other contracts in recent months.
"We are expecting an announcement from India on Friday that they will soon launch a tender reserved for French companies," Dupont told AFP.
The Indian Air Force has 51 Mirage-2000 war planes, which are made by Dassault with electronics from Thales, that are in need of an upgrade.
A consortium including Thales and Dassault has been facing stiff competition from Israel for an upgrade contract. (*) END

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