The Indian government on Wednesday gave its nod for buying 36 Rafale fighter jets from French defence manufacturer Dassault Aviation, reports Reuters.
Cabinet’s approval sets the stage for signing of the deal that is believed to be crucial for the modernisation of air force. The deal, however had been held up repeatedly because of haggling over financial terms between the involved parties.
India is expected to ink the deal with France on 23 September. French Defence Minister Jean Yves Le Drian is set to arrive in India on 22 September along with CEOs of Dassault Aviation, Thales and MBDA to seal the 7.87 billion euros deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets.
Earlier, government source revealed that the cost, offsets and service details have been finalised and work is currently being done on the IGA.
Reports had suggested that a “working team” from France had arrived in India to discuss the contract, running into several thousand pages, with their Indian counterparts.
India has been able to save over 590 million euro through tough price negotiations which began in January this year. Though the deal could have been firmed up earlier, issues like pricing and offsets took time as India wanted a better contract.
Following intervention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi late last year, France agreed for a 50 percent offset clause which will create business worth at least three billion euro for Indian companies, both big and small, and generating hundreds of jobs in India through offsets.
(With agency inputs.)
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