Singapore defence firm says it was never blacklisted by India

Six months after the Defence Ministry froze its dealings with the Singaporean defence firm ST Kinetics, the company today said it was "never blacklisted" by India.
   
"The fact that trials are now allowed to be continued after six months, it must be clear that we are not a blacklisted company. We were never blacklisted and the word blacklisted has never been told to us. Only certain dealings were put on hold," ST Kinetics' chief marketing officer Patrick Choy told reporters here.
  
He said the CBI had talked to the company but it was never told about the charges against it.

On May 17, 2009, the CBI had registered a case against former Ordnance Factory Board director general Sudipto Ghosh and after that, the Defence Ministry blacklisted seven defence firms including ST Kinetics as the CBI was investigating their role in the FIR.

All the deals involving them were put on hold resulting in the postponement of field trials of the ultra-light and towed howitzers for the Army, in which ST Kinetics was participating.
   
Last month, the Defence Ministry had allowed trials involving the blacklisted companies and said they would be awarded contracts only after they were cleared by the CBI probe.