The Rafale Deal Controversy is a political controversy in India related to the purchase of 36 multirole fighter aircraft for a price estimated to be worth Rs 58,000 crore (7.8 billion euros) by the Defence Ministry of India from France's Dassault Aviation.[1][2] Origin of the deal lies in the Indian MRCA competition.[3][4] In 2007, the UPA government had released tenders for 126 MMRCA fighters for Indian Air Force. Dassault made the lowest bids and was selected in 2012. According to the conditions of the tender, 18 jets would be purchased in fly away conditions and the remaining 108 jets were to be manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in association with Dassault after the transfer of technology to produce the aircraft. The Congress stated that a deal with the price of ₹ 526.1 crore per jet was negotiated. The UPA deal was never finalized.[5]
In April 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a decision to purchase 36 Rafale fighters in a flyaway condition during his visit to Paris. Critical operational requirements were cited as the reasons for the decision. In June 2015, the tender for 126 aircrafts was officially withdrawn. In 2016 an MoU was signed between India and France for 36 Rafale jets at a price of €7.87 billion. The deal included an offset agreement about investment of 50% of the value of the deal into the defence ecosystem as per the Defence Procurement and Procedure (DPP). The French companies Dassault, Safran, Thales and MBDA that were the Part of Rafale project would carry out the offsets.[6] Dassault Aviation announced a joint venture with Indian businessman Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence for Dassault's share of the compensation investment of 50% of the value of the deal.[5]
The Congress party had alleged favouritism by the Modi government in the selection of Anil Ambani's Reliance as offset partner. In 2018, former French president Francois Hollande revealed that Reliance was selected by the Indian side and France had no choice in the selection of the Indian offset partner. Government of India denied the accusation and Dassault Aviation issued stated that it was Dassault's decision to choose Reliance.[5] The Congress accused the government of inflating the price of the deal and demanded a public disclosure of the negotiated pricing. The Indian government rejected the demand citing a secrecy clause in the deal.[7][8] The French president Macron stated that the deal pricing can be shared with the opposition parties of India.[9]
In 2018, four separate petitions were filed in Supreme Court, questioning the pricing, choice of Reliance as the offset partner, the process followed in Rafale deal. The details of the pricing and the process that was followed was kept secret citing national interest and shared with the court in a sealed cover. On December 14, the Supreme Court declared that there was nothing wrong in the Rafale deal and the court did not doubt the process followed.[5] The court dismissed all four petitions that had demanded a court monitored probe in the deal, adding in its final conclusion that its views are based on its standpoint on the courts jurisdiction under 29 Article 32 of the Constitution of India.[10] The court in its verdict had mentioned that a report by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had been shared with parliament and Public Accounts Committee. It was pointed by the petitioners and the Congress that no CAG report on rafale exists and nothing had been shared yet. The government filed an application for correction in the verdict.[11] The application will come up for hearing after the new year holidays.[12]
- ^ "What the Rafale controversy is about". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ K, Deepalakshmi (2016-04-16). "All you need to know about the Rafale deal". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
- ^ "F-16 maker Lockheed mounts an India campaign - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
- ^ "domain-b.com : MRCA RFP: India floats its biggest-ever global tender for jet fighters". www.domain-b.com. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
- ^ a b c d "Rafale Deal: Know all about the controversy 15 points". India Today. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
- ^ Ghaswalla, Amrita Nair (12 January 2018). "Reliance Defence corners offset contracts worth ₹21,000 crore on Rafale deal". The Hindu Businessline. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "Fact Check: Glaring flip flop in Rafale 'secrecy pact' revealed". India Today. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "How Centre defended Rafale deal in Supreme Court: Key takeaways from today's hearing". The Financial Express. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "Modi govt can share Rafale deal details with Opposition, France's Macron tells India Today". India Today. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
- ^ "Supreme Court verdict on Rafale deal: Full judgement". Hindustan Times. 2018-12-14. Retrieved 2018-12-23.
- ^ "Centre's plea for corrections in Rafale judgment". The Telegraph. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
- ^ Rajagopal, Krishnadas (22 December 2018). "What is the Supreme Court verdict in Rafale deal case all about?". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 December 2018.