Neglect and mismanagement: Maharashtra’s Rs 82.78 crore helicopter left unusable for 17 months, CAG pins blame

In a case of costly dereliction, Maharashtra Directorate of Aviation's 10‑month delay in appointing MRO kept Rs 82.78‑cr chopper idle, wasted Rs 2.07 cr CAG found out

Published on:

13 Jul 2026, 5:22 am

New Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged serious procedural lapses by the Maharashtra Directorate of Aviation that left an Rs 82.78‑crore anti‑Naxalite helicopter grounded for 17 months and generated an avoidable expenditure of Rs 2.07 crore.

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According to the CAG’s Compliance Audit Report for 2024, tabled in the state legislative assembly on July 10, the Directorate delayed nearly 10 months in appointing a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) agency after the helicopter’s delivery. The helicopter—an H‑145 (VT‑GOV) purchased from Airbus Helicopters, Germany, for Rs 82.78 crore—was delivered on September 18, 2019, and completed its acceptance test flight a week later.

The audit states that, without a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)‑approved MRO on contract, the aircraft could not lawfully receive mandatory daily checks and engine ground runs needed to maintain airworthiness. Because no MRO had been finalised, the supplier placed the helicopter under short‑term preservation on September 26, 2019.

M/s Indamer Aviation Pvt Ltd was appointed as the MRO only on July 13, 2020. The CAG records that the prolonged absence of mandatory maintenance necessitated Return to Service (RTS) procedures once an MRO was in place. DGCA approval for the Directorate’s RTS work was obtained in September 2020, and RTS work costing Rs 2.07 crore was carried out. The airworthiness certificate was issued on December 2, 2020, and the helicopter entered service on February 19, 2021—one year and five months after handover.

The CAG identifies this timeline as a failure of planning and contract management. “The delay of about ten months in finalising the MRO agency resulted in the helicopter not receiving the mandatory daily checks and engine ground runs required to maintain its airworthiness,” the report says. It adds that the Directorate’s lapse “led to avoidable expenditure” and rendered the aircraft unavailable for operational deployment in Gadchiroli and neighbouring areas for more than 17 months from delivery.

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The Directorate of Aviation did not provide comments despite repeated reminders after the audit observation in July 2024. The audit notes the matter was referred to the state government in September 2025 and that a reply was awaited at the time the report was tabled.

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