India, France may close Rafale fighter jet deal at Rs 60,000 crore in March

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Indian Air Force is closer to arming its air power with 36 Rafale fighet jets from France in March.

As per a Hindustan Times report, India and France are expected to finally sign the inter-governmental agreement, including the commercial contract for the purchase of 36 Rafale multi-role fighters from Dassault Aviation . The commercial contract is expected to be signed at Rs 60,000 crore, less than what was offered by France to India at the 2011 base price during the regime of the United Progressive Alliance.

The report, sourcing a top government official said that after the initial price of 11.6 billion euros (Rs 85,000 crore) with 2015 as the base year, Dassault brought it down to 8 billion euros (Rs 65,000 crore) with 2011 being the base year for fixing the cost per fighter.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France in April 2015, it was bilaterally decided that the cost of each fighter would be 10-20% less than what was being offered in the MMRCA project; we expect the jet manufacturer to further reduce price and bring it down by another 700-800 million euros before the contract is signed, quoting the source, the report added.