Rafale fighter jets
The fighter jets are made by French company Dassault Aviation
After many negotiations over a long time, India finally agreed to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France for around INR 600 billion (less than 8 billion euros), according to Defense sources quoted by Indian media.
After several negotiations for over a year, India and France have finally agreed to ink the Rafale deal for 36 fighter jets made by French company Dassault Aviation for the Indian Air Force (IAF), for approximately INR 600 billion (less than 8 billion euros), according to defense sources quoted by Times of India.
The contract could be signed within a month since the negotiations are heading in a positive direction and the price is likely to settle around this amount, according to them.
Due to the differences over the Rafale prices between the two countries, the contract could not be finalised during French President François Hollande’s visit to India in January 2016, as France initially offered to finalise the deal with around EUR 11 billion for 36 Rafales, which included the complete weapon package, training and 50 pc offsets obligations to be invested in India, instead of 30 pc offered by France in the first place. But India continued to bargain and settled for around INR 600 billion, added the sources.
The Rafale fighters manufactured by Dassault will be directly delivered from France in a flyaway condition without any “Make in India” component. The deliveries of the fighters will begin after around two years after the agreement is inked.
Earlier, the Indian Defence ministry had sanctioned the purchase of 120 planes, but the deal was cancelled when both India and France disagreed on the per unit price of the Rafale fighters.
Indian Air Force has however now stressed that it requires to replace its old set of jets to effectively check the capabilities of countries like Pakistan and China.
In exchange for the off-the-shelf Rafales, French companies will invest 3 billion dollars in India, to help Indian firms with radar technologies.
