Rafale Deal Controversy : Everything you need to know

Rafale deal , the political circle of India is going wild over this deal as Congress and in government BJP are in front of each other over this topics, both the parties are accusing each other, while Congress is saying that BJP’s deal is flawed and is used by BJP to provide benifit to Anil Ambani’s Reliance , BJP is taking a stand that deal at the time of Congress was flawed.

Its too much of confusion, now let us bring the whole thing to you.

History of Rafale deal explained

On 31 January 2012 deal was announced as Dassault has won the MMRCA competition and was selected to supply 126 Rafale multi role fighter jets to India with 63 additional fighter jets. Out of this 18 jets were to be supplied fully built with full mission going capability , while the rest 108 jets were to be built under license by HAL.

Deal included Transfer of Technology means technology to built Rafale was to transferred to India. It was said that Rafale was chosen because of its lower built cost. In January 2014 it was reported that the cost of deal has increased by $30 Billion ( 1,86,000 crore ) . Now the cost of each jet was $120 Million ( 746 crore ).

BJP came to power

After 2014 general election, BJP came to power. Government wanted the Dassault to take care of the cost and warranty of the jets produced by HAL, but Dassault refused to do so. So because of this disagreement MR Manohar Parikar then Defense Minister of India suggested to buy Sukoi 30 MKI as a replacement for Rafale but Anup Raha disagreed saying that both fighters have different capabilities and Air Force needed Rafale like jet instead of Sukio 30 MKI.

During an official visit to France in April 2015 , PM Narendra Modisaid that the Rafale deal was changed.

New Rafale Deal Explained

New deal included:

36 fighter jets instead of 126.
No Transfer of Technology.
Total price 7.87 Billion Euros. ( 58,861 crore )
28 single seat fighter jets each at Rupees 681.7 crore.
8 double seat fighter jets each at Rupees 703.4 crore.

Out of 7.87 Billion Euros ;

1.8 Billion Euros ( 13,470 crore ) were to be issued for Tailor Made enhancements.
Weapons package costing €710 million (₹5,313 crore) .
Performance-based logistics agreement at a cost of €353 million (₹2,641 crore).

Weapons package included:

Meteor missile.
Scalp missile.

Indian specific enhancements included:

Israeli made helmet mounted display.
Radar warning receivers.
Low band jammers.

Deal also included Dassault to invest half of the cost of the deal approximately 3.9 Billion Euros ( 30,000 crore ) back in India.

Out of this 3.9 Billion Euros ( 30,000 crore )

1.2 Billion Euros ( 9000 crore ) were reserved for DRDO.
2.7 Billion Euros ( 20,924 crore ) were to be invested back in India by Dassault through purchasing products and equipments from Indian manufacturers

This investment encouraged Made in India initiative as Dassault had to invest half of money back in India which will help Indian manufacturers to flourish their business.

Reliance role in deal

On 3 October 2016 Reliance and Dassault issued a joint statement about creation of 51:49 joint venture named Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited ( DRAL ).

Joint venture have to focus on Aero structure , electronics and engine components as well as foster research and development projects under the ” Indigenously designed , developed and manufactured initiative ( IDDM )”.

Dassault have to invest excess 100 Million Euros in the venture. This joint venture is supposed to manufacture components of LEGACY 200 Series such as Nose, Cockpit & Doors at DRAL facility in Nagpur starting from January 2018.

Political Take

You must have read all the information above . Now you may compare What Congress was offering ? vs What BJP is offering ?

Price of each jet during Congress was 746 crore, while price of each jet during BJP is 681 crore for Single seat jet and 703 crore for Double seat jet.

Congress was just buying jets and giving HAL a big offer to produce Jets under them , BJP is offering us Jets , encouraging the MADE IN INDIA initiative , weapon package , return investment , encouraging local producers while giving DRDO a big chance to work with a reputated company that is Dassault.

This all clearly tells us that BJP is maybe buying less jets but the money BJP is paying not just includes jets but weapons and special enhancements especially for India. So the price of deal Rahul Gandhi is quoting is not just for buying jets but to buy much more than that.

The money used for buying jets out of 7.87 Billion Euros is 5 Billion Euros.

So BJP’s deal is not flawed rather Rahul Gandhi and Congress is using the deal to spread false information in Public. It’s just a political stunt by Congress and nothing else.

And I don’t need to remind you that how many time Congress and Rahul Gandhi has changed the price of deal.