Two others on board the seven-seat private executive helicopter were injured in the crash in the village of Gangoh, police superintendent S. A. Rizvi said, adding that one of them was in critical condition.

Haryana state power minister Om Prakash Jindal -- head of the 2.2-billion dollar steel manufacturing Jindal group -- his colleague, agriculture minister Surinder Singh, and the pilot died instantly when the French-made aircraft crashed after a mid-air engine failure, officials said.

Jindal, 75, was elected to the Haryana state assembly for a third time earlier this year.

Survivor Ved Goyal, a relative of Jindal, later told private television networks that the New Delhi-bound aircraft came down moments after its engine failed some 30 minutes after taking off from the Harayana state capital of Chandigarh.

Former Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee and other national political leaders expressed deep shock, describing Jindal's death as a major loss to India's political and corporate establishments.