New Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Tuesday said Boeing was awarded the contract based on a wrong conclusion that the US plane maker was the lowest bidder (L-1) picking holes in a $2.1 billion naval aircraft deal inked in 2009,

A report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday revealed that the defence ministry enhanced the financial bid of Boeing’s competitor EADS CASA, Spain, by including the cost of 20 years of product support. It said the product support component was ignored while considering Boeing’s quote for eight P-8I submarine hunter planes, resulting in L-1 being determined wrongly.

A defence ministry official offered no comment, saying the CAG report was being examined. A Boeing spokesperson also declined comment.

The United Progressive Alliance government ordered the P-8Is in 2009 as a replacement for the navy’s Soviet-era Tu-142 fleet to improve the navy’s anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capabilities. The planes were delivered between May 2013 and October 2015.

The NDA government inked a follow-on deal worth $1 billion with Boeing in July 2016 for four more P-8I submarine hunter planes. The P-8I is a military derivative of Boeing’s 737-800 commercial aircraft.

The CAG report said Boeing’s commercial bid, submitted in November 2007, was $ 2.18 billion (Rs8,700 crore, at the exchange rate then) compared to EADS CASA, Spain’s Euro 1.32 billion (Rs7,776 crore). The EADS bid included product support for two years. The report said Boeing clarified to the defence ministry that it would be able to provide 20 years of product support under a separate contract.