The Obama administration on Tuesday welcomed reports of the sale of 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Hailing India?s decision to buy the aircraft, US ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer said in New Delhi the $4.1-billion deal would boost strategic ties and generate 23,000 jobs in America.
?This sale captures the mutual benefits of the US-India global partnership. For India, the sale adds strategic and humanitarian muscle to its defence needs,? the outgoing US ambassador said in a statement.
India?s order for C-17 Globemaster III will keep the Boeing facility at Long Beach, California functioning for another year.
According to Boeing, the two governments need to sign a letter of acceptance, a formality the company expects to be completed by the end of the week.
Deloitte India director Nidhi Goyal said, ?While India gets world?s best technology equipment through the FMS (Foreign Military Sales) route, the Indian industry does not get any benefit of this know-how for building up its own high-tech defence industrial base.?
?The 30% offset requirement under this purchase would only enable Indian companies to supply low-tech products and this will not boost indigenisation in India,? he added.
The IAF has waited for long for these machines. The IAF was first briefed on the aircraft in 2007, and New Delhi officially expressed interest in the aircraft in 2009. This was followed by a formal letter of request to the US in early 2010.