No link to bribe offered to the Army Chief: Vectra

New Delhi: The Vectra group, the largest shareholder of the consortium Tatra Holding that owns Tatra, which is facing controversy following Army chief General VK Singh's bribery charges, has said it is deeply concerned and anguished by the "unfounded allegations".

General Singh had alleged that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore by a lobbyist to clear the sale of a tranche of 600 'substandard' Tatra trucks for the Army.

"Tatra Vectra is deeply concerned and anguished by the false and unfounded allegations of attempted offers to bribe levied by General VK Singh," a statement released by the group said.

Tatra, the statement said, does not require a selling agent or agency or any person for canvassing.

"We categorically state that Lt Gen Tejinder Singh has never been contacted for any purpose by Tatra, and Tatra/Vectra Group does not have any business or any relation with him," it said.

Further, the statement said there has been no formal complaint regarding the quality or performance of the Tatra Truck in the past 26 years either in India or internationally.

"In fact many armed forces personnel swear by Tatra for their operational needs," it said.

The statement said Tatra supplies such trucks to the Indian defence public sector undertaking Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) under license and hence Tatra has no reason or occasion to have to approach Gen Singh for approval of its trucks.

In a separate statement, manufacturer of Tatra trucks said the heavy vehicles have not faced any quality issues in the last 20 years.

"Tatra supplies only 30-35 per cent of the parts and the balance are produced or furnished by BEML, which assembles the trucks. Tatra has not heard of any quality issue from BEML in last 20 years," Tatra CEO Ronald Adams said in a statement.

On the issue of over-pricing of these trucks, he said, "Tatra is a vehicle specially designed for severe Army use. It is unique in its construction and not a vehicle simply converted from civilian use to military use. We remain competitive globally."

(With additional inputs from PTI)