"The request for the proposal (RFP) was cancelled last week after the three companies could not meet the qualitative requirements," Indian defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar told AFP.

"A fresh RFP will be floated shortly," Kar added, without specifying when the global tender would be issued.

A ministry source said the attack helicopter tender, floated last year, was worth nearly 550 million dollars.

The three companies which were in the race for the contract were Russia's Kamov, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) company and Italian-British group Agusta Westland, spokesman Kar said.

The source added EADS, which owns the world's largest helicopter-maker Eurocopter, was ready to bid again for the 22 high-altitude machines India needs for its troops patrolling Kashmir's mountain borders with Pakistan.

India has emerged as the biggest buyer of military products with plans to spend up to 30 billion dollars on defence purchases by 2012.

The ministry source said five companies were initially in the race for the attack helicopter deal.

"Two bowed out before the RFP was floated last year," the source told AFP.

US media reports had named the two companies which quit the race as US-based Boeing and Bell, a unit of Textron.

EADS, meanwhile, has also expressed interest in collaborating with India in producing a trainer version of an indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) which now is under field trials.

"EADS has shown interest in the LCA trainer," India's chief military scientist M. Natarajan told reporters separately on Tuesday.

India scrapped a 600-million-dollar deal in 2007 for 197 helicopters awarded to Eurocopter after allegations of corruption in the bidding process.

Media reports said that the deal was scrapped because of the involvement of brokers.

India banned middlemen in military deals following allegations of bribery in a multi-billion-dollar artillery deal in the 1980s with Swedish firm Bofors.

That scandal led to the downfall of the government of Congress prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1989.

Eurocopter denied the Indian media allegations of the involvement of middlemen.

New Delhi says it will soon float a separate tender for 312 helicopters in a deal estimated to be worth more than one billion dollars.

India's million-plus army also wants to buy 285 heavy- and medium-lift helicopters to replace part of its fleet of 500 Soviet-era machines.

Also, India is expected soon to name the company from which it will buy 126 fighter jets worth 12 billion dollars.

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