The US government has approved a deal to sell the Indian military six AH-64E Apache attack helicopters for 930 million dollars, State Department said last night.

The agreement has been passed to the USA Congress for approval and if no US lawmaker raises an objection, the contract will go ahead.

Boeing and Indian partner Tata have begun to produce Apache fuselages at a plant in India, but Tuesday night's approval concerns a direct sale of finished products from the US manufacturers.

In addition to aircraft, the contract includes night vision sensors, GPS guidance and hundreds of Hellfire anti-armour and Stinger air-to-air missiles.