The Centre hit back at the Congress's allegations on the Rafale deal with the Defence Ministry today stating that the demand to disclose the details and value of the contract is "unrealistic". The ministry added that revealing exact item-wise costs and other information of the deal will impact "military preparedness" and "compromise national security".
The ministry again reiterated that the deal secured by the Centre is better in terms of capability and price, as compared to the one negotiated earlier by the UPA regimes.
It also reiterated that the procurement of the 36 Rafale aircraft through an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with France is in accordance with the Defence Procurement Procedure, including seeking necessary approvals.
The ministry statement began by stating that unfounded allegations are being made regarding the 2016 IGA to procure 36 Rafales in fly-away condition from France. "This would normally not have merited a response but for the serious damage being caused by the misleading statements, sought to be repeatedly perpetrated on a serious matter of national security," it said.
The ministry said, "The demand that the Government disclose the details and value of the contract for the Rafale aircraft contracted in 2016 is unrealistic. The approximate acquisition cost of the Rafale aircraft has already been provided to the Parliament. The provision of exact item-wise cost and other information will reveal, inter alia, details regarding the various customisations and weapon systems, specially designed to augment the effectiveness and lethality of the assets, impact our military preparedness and compromise our national security."
It added that by not revealing the item-wise details of the contract, the government is merely following the confidentiality provisions of a bilateral India-France Agreement of 2008, signed by the previous government.
On Monday, replying to a question on the cost per aircraft under the IGA in the Rajya Sabha, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said, "As per 'Article-10' of the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) between Government of India and Government of France on the purchase of Rafale aircraft, the protection of the classified information and material exchanged under IGA is governed by the provisions of the Security Agreement signed between the two nations signed in 2008."
However, Minister of State for Defence Dr Subhash Bhamre in response to a question on the Rafale deal in the Lok Sabha on November 18, 2016 had said that the cost of each Rafale aircraft is approximately Rs 670 crore.
The Rafale deal for 36 jets cost India 7 billion euros (Rs 59,000 crore).
In addition, last November Sitharaman at a defence ministry press conference had said that current price figures for comparison will be given.
Meanwhile, the ministry also said, "it is once again strongly reiterated that the deal secured by the Government is better in terms of capability, price, equipment, delivery, maintenance, training, etc., than that notionally negotiated by the then Government in a process it could not conclude in ten years. Moreover, the present Government completed these negotiations in just about one year."
The ministry also pointed out that the IGA to meet the urgent need of the IAF is in "accordance with the Defence Procurement Procedure in all aspects including mandating, conducting and monitoring of negotiations and seeking all necessary approvals, including that of the Cabinet Committee on Security, before entering into the IGA."
Furthermore, the ministry said that no Indian offset partner for the 2016 deal has been selected by the development agency- Dassault Aviation. Even Sitharaman while answering a question on the Rafale deal on Monday had explained, "Details of Indian Offset Partners have not yet been provided by the French Industrial suppliers and as per the provisions of Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) - 2013 they need to do so at the time of seeking offset credits or one year prior to discharge of offset obligations through their Indian Offset Partners."
In October, 2017, Dassault and Reliance Defence laid the foundation stone of the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) manufacturing facility at Mihan for implementing the offset obligation.
economictimes
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