Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi headed for his official visit to France, the defence ministry on Thursday accorded approval for the procurement of 26 Rafale marine fighter aircrafts and three additional Scorpene submarines for the Indian Navy from the French government.
“The DAC granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of 26 Rafale Marine aircraft along with associated ancillary equipment, weapons, simulator, spares, documentation, crew training and logistic support for the Indian Navy from the French Government based on Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA),” a defence ministry statement said.
Sources said the 26 Rafale-M fighters include 22 single seater jets and four twin-seater trainers, besides three submarines.
“Both the deals are valued at an estimated 10 billion euro (Rs 91,000 crore) and will be announced during the talks between Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday,” said a defence ministry official.
“The price and other terms of purchase will be negotiated with the French Government after taking into account all relevant aspects, including comparative procurement price of similar aircraft by other countries,” the ministry statement said.
Further, integration of Indian designed equipment and establishment of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) hub for various systems will be incorporated into the contract documents after due negotiations, the ministry said.
The defence acquisition council (DAC), chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh, also granted the AoN for procurement of three additional Scorpene submarines under Buy (Indian) category which will be constructed by MazagonDock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL).
“The procurement of additional submarines, with higher indigenous content, will not only help in maintaining required force level and operational readiness of the Indian Navy, but also create significant employment opportunities in the domestic sector,” the statement said.
Besides, the DAC approved the proposal to lay down guidelines for achieving the desired indigenous content in all categories of capital acquisition cases. This, the ministry said, will help in achieving “aatmanirbharta” in critical manufacturing technologies and life-cycle sustenance of defence platforms or equipment through indigenous manufacturing.
In the past another Rafale deal was mired in controversy when Prime MinisterModi had announced it during his April 2015 visit to France.
The terms of the Rs 59,000-crore deal for the sale of 36 Rafale fighter jets, formally signed in September 2016, had an offset clause, according to which the supplier had to spend half the money in India. French company Dassault Aviation decided to end its negotiations with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and created a joint venture with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure to meet its offset obligations, leading to allegations of the Modi government giving preferential treatment to theAmbanis.
The Congress had accused the Prime Minister of violating procedure to favour Reliance.
