The air force headquarters in a report placed to the parliamentary standing committee on defence ministry yesterday said the fighters have been priced at $ 117.9 million, a figure substantially higher from what had been claimed in February in parliament.

Water Resources Minister Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, who is also in charge of the defence ministry in parliamentary affairs, on February 22 informed the Jatiya Sangsad that the government in the fiscal year 2004-05 had signed an agreement with China to procure 16 fighter planes at a cost of $93.6 million.

He said this in a written reply to a lawmaker's question.

Referring to the discrepancy in the prices, Hafiz Uddin last night told The Daily Star, "I can't remember exactly what I said in parliament. The ministries concerned usually prepare the answers we place in parliament. And sometimes we are too busy to verify those."

The minister however said he will confirm what he had actually said about the purchase after examining the official documents.

The air force chief who placed the report to the parliamentary body said the negotiations concerning the procurement were confined to the governments of Bangladesh and China.

But the main opposition Awami League (AL) lawmaker claimed that a third party must have been involved in the process and pocketed a huge commission from the purchase.

"I am sure a third party was between the two sides and took commission from the procurement," AL lawmaker Col (retired) Shawkat Ali told reporters after the meeting.

Asked about the difference between the price mentioned in the air force report and the one Hafiz Uddin said in parliament, Chairman of the standing committee on defence Lt Gen (retired) Mahbubur Rahman said he does not know what the water resources minister had said in parliament. "We have accepted the report of the air chief," the former army chief told The Daily Star.

Responding to the AL lawmakers' allegation, Chief of Air Staff Air Vice Marshal Fakhrul Azam told the meeting that the Bangladesh government has not paid any commission to anybody for the purchase. "I don't know whether the Chinese government has paid such commission or not," Shawkat quoted the air chief as saying.

Sources in the armed forces and the parliamentary body said an influential lawmaker who is close to the prime minister's family allegedly dominate the defence purchase.

The water resources minister on February 22 told parliament that "each plane will cost $5.85 million." But according to the latest report, the planes in fact cost $7.36 million each.

Hafiz Uddin told the House that purchase of fighter aircraft for the air force is a continuous process. He, however, did not elaborate on the purchase process.

The lawmaker who put the question to the minister on the topic did not have scope to raise any supplementary questions, as the question-answer session was not held and instead replies to the lawmakers' questions were given in writing.

Of the 16 fighter planes, eight have been commissioned recently while the will arrive in October.

Alleging that the process of purchasing the aircraft was not transparent, the AL lawmaker questioned why only two proposals were sent to the airforce headquarters. "How many bidders had participated in the tender for the purchase?" Shawkat asked.

"But the air force chief could not give an answer to the question. He said the director general of defence purchase (DGDP) knows about it and the committee will be informed of it later," Shawkat added.

The air chief in his report said the DGDP has sent two financial bids to the air force headquarters. In those bids, China quoted $120 million for 16 aircraft while Russia $420 million.

Referring to this point of the report, the AL lawmaker alleged that the authorities concerned had manipulated the tender process by sending only two offers having a gulf between the bid prices. "The question arises as to the transparency in the purchase process. The issue has yet to be clarified as I did not get any answer to my questions," the AL lawmaker told reporters.

The air chief however told the meeting that he does not know whether the DGDP had received any other offers besides those.

About the participants in the tender for the 16 fighter planes, the air chief's report says the DGDP had made a shortlist comprised of those two bidders.

The committee chairman said he told the meeting that they want to ensure transparency in the defence ministry. "We want to make the defence ministry is free of any sort of corruption. We have bitter experience regarding the purchase of Mig-29 during the previous government," the chairman said.

The government has awarded China the work after taking into consideration technical and financial viability, he added.

On the allegation of corruption in the purchase, he said the Anti-Corruption Commission or intelligence agencies can investigate if there had been any irregularities in the procurement.

About the necessity for purchasing the fighter planes, the air chief's report said it had been declared in 1989 that air force's fleet of aircraft will be phased out by 1990 and which is why it became essential to procure the 16 fighter planes.

The previous AL government had purchased eight Mig-29 fighter planes from Russia at a cost of $123.98 million, giving birth to widespread controversy.

The BNP-led alliance government in 2003 approved the plans to purchase 16 fighter planes and an international tender was floated for the purchase accordingly.