Points to note

• September 2016, India & France signed a €7.87 billion Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for 36 Rafale multi-role fighter jets in fly-away condition.
• The contract is valued to cost India Rs 58,000 crore, though; the Opposition in India has requested that the deal has cost India thrice the amount it was supposed to.
• MMRCA – Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, made to perform wide range of operations like Arial reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes, air supremacy etc.
  Manufacturer – Dassault Aviation
  Israeli helmet mounted display, Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile and other missiles.
• The actual deal worth about $10 billion for acquiring 126 Rafale aircrafts, out of which 18 will be taken in fly away condition and remaining will be manufactured in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited facilities under transfer of technology.

What was the deal?

Today I will be explaining you what this Rafale deal was all about. In the Rafale deal, India would purchase aircrafts from France worth about $10 billion for obtaining 126 Rafale flying machines, out of which 18 will be taken in fly away condition and remaining will be fabricated in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited offices under exchange of innovation. The underlying thought of enlistment of multi-role aircraft began in 2001 and defence acquisition council opened bidding in 2007. After India discharged its arrangement to enlist MMRCA to re-help its Air Force, a few aviation manufacturers came ahead. At first, the offers were made by Eurofighter Typhoon, SAAB Grippen, Lockheed Martin’s F-16, Boing’s F/A – 18, Mig-35 of Russia and Rafael from France. After a series of tests, Eurofighter and Rafael were shortlisted. At last, Rafael was chosen as it gave the least offer and it needs low upkeep. The arrangement of 126 Rafale was started.

How crucial is The Rafale deal?

Now, you’d be thinking that why this Rafale deal was important or rather crucial for Indian defence. India presently has heavy and light aircrafts and it is essential to swap its old fleets, specifically Mig. India also had Tejas in their list of new entrants, but their introduction will take additional time and the requirement of replacement is crucial. India was in a dire need of powerful aircraft which UPA government failed to provide, but Modi government has sealed the deal as quickly as possible because they understood that we need to flex our strengths internationally and cross borders threats.

The Rafale deal would also satisfy the need of medium aircraft with multi-role features. An additional motive behindhand the deal was to overcome the requirement of 9 squadrons in the Indian Air Force. Presently India has 33 squadrons, but call for 42 in order to fully prevent foreign threats.

Delay in Rafale Deal

Now the question here is that if the bidding was open since 2007, then why did it take so long to close the deal? The answer to this is India picked the Dassault-made Rafale jet for selective exchanges in January 2012 after a hotly challenged bidding war with opposing manufacturers, yet it is still to finalize the $15 billion arrangement, one of the world’s biggest defence import orders.

Under the underlying terms of the proposed arrangement, Dassault was expected to give 18 fighters in “fly-away” condition, and after that let HAL manufacture the rest in India. In any case, Dassault now needs two separate contracts to be marked – one for the instant ones, and another for the rest to be worked by HAL, however India contradicts that proposition, an Indian Defence Ministry official told Reuters.

Negotiations led to the adjustment of the deal and reduced the count of aircrafts from 126 to 36 in ready-made condition.

Offset contract of the Rafale deal

According to the AFP officials, the Rafale is divided into four parts between Dassault (the integrator), Thales (radars and avionics), Safran (engines and electronics) and MBDA (weapons).

An executive told in an interview with AFP that the negotiations are being done with about a hundred Indian companies and partnerships with about thirty of them has already been concluded.

According to the reports, Reliance Defence could get just over 3 per cent of the Dassault Aviation offsets contract, contrary to the impression that it is the biggest beneficiary of the Rafale fighter jets deal.

BJP initiatives in Rafale Deal

Modi led government has been working for the welfare of our nation, as it has yet proved it again with their efforts in Rafale deal. Below I’ve listed the Modi government contribution in Rafale deal:

• The Rafale deal negotiated by the Modi government caused in a considerable 350 million amount of lessening for 36 aircraft in flyaway condition as associated with terms that were being considered by the UPA and there is a further 1,300 million saving for weapons, maintenance, and training.
• UPA was getting 18 fighters for around 100 million each and the cost presently is around 90 million for every fighter. The present government likewise acquired the additionally secured the Meteor rocket that makes the contender significantly more successful.
• The Modi government has paid Rs 59 crore lesser than what the UPA government has decided on.
• As far as the total cost of the deal is concerned, the UPA was ready to pay Rs 1,72,185 crore whereas the NDA is paying Rs 59,262 crore for the same. The number signifies that the the Modi government is paying Rs 1,12,963 crore less than the UPA government. The lesser number is also due to the lesser number of jets.
• As far as the average cost per aircraft is concerned, the UPA government was willing to pay Rs 911 crore per jet, whereas, the Modi government has estimated the cost to be Rs 688 crore – which is Rs 223 crore cheaper per jet.

Current Status

On 23rd September, India signed Inter-Governmental Agreement with France to buy 36 Rafale jets for € 7.87 billion. The deal was signed by Manohar Parikar, Defence Minister and French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian in presence of the CEO of Dassault.

On 6th March 2019, the government has filed a complaint in Supreme Court regarding the Rafale deal documents that have been “Stolen” from the Defence Ministry and threatened The Hindu newspaper with the Official Secrets Acts for publishing articles based on them. The apex court has adjourned the hearing in the case to 14th March 2019.

Conclusion

I believe that this deal was the best decision that was taken by the Modi government as these jets will empower our defence system giving them an extra edge in terms of powers & threat prevention. These jets are presently being used by France and Qatar and India was the first nation that stood ahead to buy these aircrafts. Also, the procurement of this aircraft by India will be further enriching the business status of the French company and afterward will be valuable for India in the field of defence strengthening. India is stepping forward to conclude and enlist the airplanes so as to remain prepared and make Indian aviation based armed forces to perform more undertakings utilizing this aircraft.