Rafale deal: MoD mum on CCS nod

The Defence Ministry on Monday reiterated that the base price of each of the Rafale fighter jet was Rs 670 crore "without the associated equipment, weapons, India Specific Enhancements, maintenance support and services".

The government also kept mum on a Parliamentarian's question on whether an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) was sought before Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an announcement on the purchase of 36 Rafale combat jets from France in April 2015.

Responding to Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha's query, the Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said CCS approval was taken in August 2016- nearly 16 months after the announcement- and a month before formal signing of the agreement between the two governments.

No answer was provided on whether the CCS nod was taken even before the announcement.

Bhamre said each of the basic aircraft cost Rs 670 crore, days after the principal Opposition party Congress brought in fresh allegations on corruption in the Rafale deal.

Quoting Dassault Aviation's 2016 annual report, Congress claimed India paid a price of Rs 1,670.7 crore per aircraft, which was nearly Rs 351 crore more than the price at which Egypt and Qatar bought those combat jets from the French company.

Dassault Aviation sold 24 aircraft each to Egypt and Qatar at a price of Euro 7.9 billion while 36 aircraft was sold to India at a cost of Euro 7.5 billion.

"We are clearly paying an extra price of Rs 350.9 crore per aircraft. Modi government's Rafale deal has left more questions than answers," Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said last week.

Referring to the previous deal of buying 126 Rafale combat jets, Azad said even in that deal the base price for each aircraft was Rs 526.1 crore.

Bhamre said it was not correct to say there was an upward price escalation as no price was finalised in the previous deal.

Despite 10 years of negotiations, the UPA government could not finalise the 126 fighter jet deal even though the squadron strength of Indian Air Force kept on declining.

The first two of the 36 Rafale aircraft are expected to be delivered to the IAF next year.