Refuting allegations of wrong doing in the Rafale fighter aircraft deal leveled by the Congress, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said here such accusations were "shameful" and amounted to a "disservice" to the armed forces. She also said due process was followed in inking the deal with France for 36 Rafale jets and said the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) gave the necessary approval for the deal.
The deal is worth over 7.8 billion Euros and inked in September 2016. The first fully weaponised aircraft manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault according to IAF specifications will come to India in 2019 and the entire lot has to be delivered by Dassault by 2022.
Terming the acquisition of 36 jets as an emergency procurement as the IAF was facing depletion in its fighter jet fleet strength, Sitharaman charged the UPA Government for not acting for 10 years, thus, leading to this situation. In fact, she repeatedly made this charge during her Press conference and said the NDA Government took the decision adding Rafale emerged as the lowest bidder in 2012 when UPA was in power.
However, the then Government could not clinch the deal for the initial proposal of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), she said. As per the initial proposed deal 18 jets were to be bought off the shelf and rest to be manufactured here in India by public sector Hindustan Aeronautics limited (HAl).
Asserting that she was "rebutting" the claims by the Congress about the deal, Sitharaman said the charges were "baseless" and "shameful." Her remarks came a day after the Congress accused PM of changing the "entire deal" to benefit a businessman. "These allegations are shameful...The deal was finalised following a transparent procedure," Sitharaman told reporters adding the Congress did not do its homework.
Sitharaman also called the bickering against the deal as "disservice" to the armed forces, asserting that urgent requirement of the IAF for sealing it. She also informed that the deal for 36 jets was signed after five rounds of detailed discussions between India and France. Modi announced about the decision to buy these jets through Government to Government deal during his visit to Paris in 2015, she added.
Brushing aside the Congress claim that due process was not followed, the Minister said the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)allows the Government to have such deals with "friendly" nations. Claiming that the Congress can accused for error of "omission" for delay, she said the cost of 36 aircraft was much lesser than that under discussion for 126 jets.
Sitharaman stressed the per unit cost of the 36 jet deal was "definitely" lower than the per unit cost under discussion by the UPA Government for 126 jets. The Minister, however, refrained from giving the comparative figures as the Congress had charged that while the cost of per jet was about Rs 560 crores, the NDA signed the deal for Rs 1,600 crore per aircraft.
Rejecting the claim that a particular industrial house was favoured for offsets amounting to Rs 30,000 crore, she said the offsets clause was yet to be signed. The proposed clause makes it mandatory for Dassault to invest 50 percent of the total cost of the deal in India after tying up with an Indian company.
The overall deal includes aircraft, spares, weapons, maintenance and performance guarantee for five years. Asserting that there is no comparison between decision making in UPA and NDA Governments, Sitharaman said, "Repeated allegations do not make it true if it is not founded on facts. Opposition allegations have no facts. It is unfounded… There is nothing that will stick on this Government."
Why Modi Govt, Def Min hiding purchase priceIJ asks Cong leader
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday alleged that repeated attempts at shoddy cover up and complete non-transparency in purchase of Rafale Aircrafts have raised serious questions on 'National Interests' and 'National Security' by the Narendra Modi Government. Raising doubts over the deal, Surjewala questioned: "What is the price per aircraft of the 36 Rafale Aircrafts being purchased by Modi Government and why is Modi Government and Defence Minister hiding the purchase priceIJ
The Congress leader has alleged that the Modi Government bought the 36 Rafale aircraft at a "highly inflated price" — much more than what was negotiated for by the previous UPA regime. It also alleged that the deal benefited the BJP's "crony capitalist friends" at the cost of a reputed public sector undertaking, Hindustan Aeronautics limited (HAl). "Is it correct that per aircraft pricing of Rafale as per UPA negotiation comes to US $80.95 million (Rs 526.1 crore) as against Modi Government's per aircraft negotiated price of US $241.66 million (Rs 1570.8 crore) as per current exchange rateIJ Who is responsible for loss to exchequerIJ" Surjewala questioned
The Congress leader said the cost finalised for the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft was Rs 60,000 crore. The UPA Government negotiated a $10.2 billion deal for acquiring 126 Rafale jets while the NDA government renegotiated the deal to commit $8.7 billion for just 36 fighters without the provision for transfer of technology, said the Congress leader.
The Congress leader further questioned — How Prime Minister took a unilateral decision on buying the 36 aircrafts of Dassault by-passing the mandatory 'Defence Procurement Procedure' and in absence of an inter-Governmental agreement with France at that timeIJ