New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) The defence ministry has given the go-ahead for trials of 155mm towed guns in which blacklisted armaments firm Singapore Technologies Kinetics is the sole contender in the fray, an official said Wednesday. However, a deal will be signed only after the probe in the corruption case against the company is over.

The development is important in the context of the Indian Army's crucial artillery modernisation programme.

'Acting on specific request from the army, defence ministry has given the nod for the trials of 155mm towed guns,' said a senior Indian Army officer, requesting anonymity.

The Indian Army's 23-year wait for new artillery guns had got longer with the blacklisting of the Singapore firm on corruption charges.

Singapore Technologies was one of seven firms the defence ministry blacklisted June 5 after its name cropped up in a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against former Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) chief Sudipto Ghosh under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Singapore Technologies is also a contender for a Rs.80 billion order for 400 155mm/52-calibre towed artillery guns and the manufacture in this country of another 1,100 howitzers through the transfer of technology route.

However, the official added: 'The contract will be signed only after the CBI probe in the corruption case is over.'

The Indian Army had purchased 410 Bofors 155mm howitzers in 1986 but the deal was mired in corruption charges and the name of then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was dragged in. The Supreme Court eventually found no wrongdoing but the taint stuck to Bofors, as a result of which it was not considered for the new order.

Corruption charges also knocked out the South African Denel gun, leaving Singapore Technologies as the sole contender in the fray.

The Indian Army is now left with just about half of its 410 guns, with normal wear and tear and cannibalisation accounting for the remaining howitzers.