Nirmala Sitharaman slams Opposition's charges about Rafale deal
The NDA government blasted Congress for suggesting that there was complicity involved in the Rafale deal. The Rs. 59,000cr Rafale deal, finalized in 2016, involves buying 36 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircrafts (MRCA) from French defense manufacturer Dassault. The government called the charges "unfounded and misleading," reiterating that they had secured a better deal in terms of price, capability, equipment, delivery and maintenance than UPA.
What did the Congress allege?
Earlier, defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament that the deal's details were classified and couldn't be disclosed in Parliament. Congress President Rahul Gandhi slammed PM Modi's government for maintaining utmost secrecy over the deal, terming it "the great Indian mystery." They claimed a huge scam was brewing. Moreover, due procedures were not followed and the jets were bought off the shelf like "oranges."
'Approximate cost of Rafale aircraft already provided to Parliament'
BJP asserted the deal "strictly accorded" with the Defense Procurement Procedure. It called Congress's demand of disclosing the details and value of the Rafale deal contract "unrealistic." It clarified that the approximate acquisition cost of the Rafale aircraft has already been provided in Parliament. Further, providing exact item-wise cost will reveal details about various customizations and weapons systems, impacting military preparedness and national security.
BJP also turned the tables on Congress
BJP reminded Congress that it was "merely following" the confidentiality provisions of the bilateral India-France Agreement in 2008 signed by their previous agreement. Congress's other claim is that government opted for Rafale fighters even when another bidder Eurofighter Typhoon offered to slash its price by 20%. BJP answered that they had "conveniently forgotten" that UPA government in 2012 had declared Rafale the "lowest bidder."
Government slammed previous UPA for stalling the deal
Modi's government remarked that "contrary to the impression created by the Opposition, in the earlier proposal to procure Rafale, there was no provision for transfer of technology but only to manufacture under licence." The UPA couldn't even agree on these terms, leading to the whole exercise turning futile. They claimed former Defense Minister Antony had used "an unprecedented personal veto" to sabotage the deal.
But, what is the approximate cost of the deal?
Reportedly, each Rafale jet will cost Rs. 670cr. If the overall deal is accounted for, i.e., deadly weapons package and spares for 75% fleet among other things, per unit cost goes up to Rs. 1,640cr. What about Congress's charge that Reliance is benefiting from the deal? Government explained that "No Indian offset Partner for the 2016 deal had been so far selected by Dassault."
