JOIN USAccused of having benefited from the controversial Rafale deal, Reliance Defence on Wednesday said it had not received any contract related to the purchase of 36 fighter jets.
The Anil Ambani-led company also clarified that it was too early for the original equipment manufacturer, Dassault Aviation, to disclose the names of its offset partners to the defence ministry to seek clearance.
That would happen in September 2019 when Dassault would seek offset credit.
The clarifications came soon after former BJP ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, as well as Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, levelled a set of fresh charges against the Modi government on the Rafale deal, in which, they claimed, Reliance Defence was the beneficiary.
"No Reliance Group company has received any contract from the MoD, related to the 36 Rafale aircraft government-to-government deal," said Rajesh K Dhingra, chief executive officer of Reliance Defence and Aerospace.
On the allegation of the company getting Rs 30,000 crore offset contract, he said, "Dassault's share of offsets is approximately 25%, with the remaining offset obligations being shared by Thales, Safran, MBDA and others. Therefore, the basic premise of Dassault giving Rs 30,000 crore worth of offset (export obligations) contracts to Reliance is totally unfounded."
Congress reacts
The Congress on Wednesday latched on to the call for a "forensic audit" into the Rafale deal given by former BJP ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his silence on the issue.
"You shun the Opposition and keep mum. Please reply now as the questions are being asked by two of your own senior most colleagues Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie," Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said here.