Rafale deal controversy relates to the purchase of 36 multi-role fighter aircraft by Indian Defence Ministry from France’s Dassault Aviation.
During an official visit to France in April 2015, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi announced that India would acquire 36 fully built Rafale jets citing “critical operational necessity”. In September 2016, India and France signed an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) for acquisition of 36 aircraft at a cost of 7.87 billion euro (Dh32.6 billion).
In November 2016, however, a political war over the deal began with Congress accusing the government of causing “insurmountable loss” of taxpayers’ money by signing the deal. It claimed that the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence Limited had been unfairly picked to be French firm’s Indian partner. Congress also alleged that the cost of each aircraft is three times more than what the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had negotiated with France in 2012.
The claims were rebutted by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with the government saying that the renegotiated deal was better than the one negotiated by UPA government as it included a superior logistical support, which had been absent in the previous one. She said the details of the deal could not be disclosed as per the inter-governmental agreement as it was “classified information”. The delivery of Rafale jets is scheduled to begin from September, 2019.
