NEW DELHI—Boeing Co. plans to start delivering military helicopters to India in 2018, two people familiar with the deal said.

After years of delay, India's cabinet last week gave its final approval to buy 37 helicopters from the Chicago-based defense and aeronautics company. The $3 billion deal will be completed by the middle of 2020, one of the people, who didn't wish to be named, said Tuesday.

After getting final approval, India's Defense Ministry signed contracts Monday to buy 15 CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and 22 AH-64E Apache multirole combat helicopters, according to the ministry and Boeing. The deals include options to buy an additional seven Chinook and 11 Apache helicopters.

The deal signing took place in New Delhi as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's was winding up a trip to the U.S.

While the aircraft are being acquired directly from Boeing, the Apaches' onboard weapons, radars and some other components are being bought through the U.S. government's foreign military sales route—a government-to-government mechanism for selling U.S. defense equipment.

The Boeing contract includes engines from General Electric Co. and Hellfire missiles from Lockheed Martin Corp.

Write to Santanu Choudhury at santanu.choudhury@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 29, 2015 10:45 ET (14:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Boeing (NYSE:BA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more Boeing Charts.
Boeing (NYSE:BA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more Boeing Charts.