The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a major thrust to anti-Naxal operations, has finally cleared bids to hire six new Russia manufactured MI-17 choppers or ones with equivalent capability from a consortium of helicopter operators – Global Vectra and UTair.
The helicopters, to be used for search and rescue operations, will be made available to the ministry within three months. The choppers, to be hired on a wet lease basis, will be deployed in nine Left wing extremism-affected states – Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa.
The MHA in September had sought expression of interest (EOI) from MI-17 operators for the wet lease of helicopters for a year and extendable up to three years. Under wet lease, the operator provides a chopper, complete crew, its maintenance and insurance.
The helicopters will be used for evacuation of casualties, search and rescue operations, movement of troops and surveillance. The choppers will be allowed to fly at a minimum altitude of 3,000 feet and have an airlift capability of 20 fully equipped armed security personnel. Further, the helicopters, capable of day and night flying, will be able to fly 400 km without refuelling.
The twin engine turbine helicopters will have slithering facilities and armour-plating for the safety of crew, passengers and vital components of helicopters. According to MHA officials, depending on the usage, more helicopters will be hired. The already proposed 13 helicopters will be made available at a cost of Rs 3.5lakh per hour. (Rs 12crore per month) The official sources said expat/Indian pilots will be security cleared and exempted from the rigorous process of obtaining licences.
According to rule 160 of Aircraft Rules 1937, the central government has the power to exempt any aircraft, person or an organisation from the operation of these rules, either wholly or partially. The helicopters will be civil registered and operationally controlled by the MHA. The charter company shall bear expenses towards the personnel, fuel, transportation, insurance and maintenance.
According to EOI conditions, the annual turnover of the company should at least have been Rs 100 crore in the past four years solely from the chartered services. The company should be in the business of providing chartered services for three years, stated the EOI. Global Vectra, a private helicopter company, has a fleet of 25 aircraft, including Bell Helicopters (Bell 412) and Eurocopters (EC 155, B1, EC 135 P2, and AS 350 B3). The fleet of helicopters, which range from small light helicopters to medium-sized twin helicopters, offer seating capacity for four to 12 passengers.
UTair is a major world helicopter operator and operates the largest aircraft fleet in Russia. According to the company’s website, UTair is an integrated air transport and aircraft services company with over 40 years of experience on the Russian air transport market.