Amid Rafale controversy, manufacturer Dassault Aviation releases statement, says it 'freely chose to partner with Reliance Group'

Amidst the Rafale fighter jet deal controversy in India, Dassault Aviation, the company manufacturing the aircraft has issued a statement clarifying on the pact with the Indian government, reiterating that it “freely chosen to make partnership with India’s Reliance Group”. In the statement released on the company’s official website, titled ‘Rafale contract for India: clarifications by Dassault Aviation’, the company also said that, it has committed to offsets in India worth 50 percent of the value of the purchase of 36 Rafale jets “within the framework of the September 2016 Inter-Government Agreement between France and India” and in “compliance with the Indian regulations”. [caption id=“attachment_5292811” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Wikimedia Commons[/caption] In the statement, Dassault Aviation says: Within the framework of the September 2016 Inter-Government Agreement between France and India, Dassault Aviation has sold 36 Rafale aircraft to India. In compliance with the Indian regulations (Defence Procurement Procedure) and as frequent with such a contract, Dassault Aviation has committed to offsets in India worth 50 percent of the value of the purchase. In order to deliver some of these offsets, Dassault Aviation has decided to create a joint venture. Dassault Aviation has freely chosen to make a partnership with India’s Reliance Group. This joint-venture, Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL), was created 10 February 2017. Other partnerships have been signed with other companies such as BTSL, DEFSYS, Kinetic, Mahindra, Maini, SAMTEL,… Other negotiations are ongoing with a hundred-odd other potential partners. In compliance with French regulations, Chief Operating Officer Loïk Segalen informed on 11 May 2017, the Central Works Council of the creation of the DRAL joint-venture in order to fulfil some of the offsets commitment. The cornerstone for the DRAL plant in Nagpur (Maharashtra) was laid 27 October 2017. This plant will manufacture parts for Falcon 2000 business jets and, in a second step, parts for Rafale aircraft. An initial team of Indian managers have been trained for six months to our manufacturing processes in our plant in Biarritz (France). The first Indian skilled workers have also benefited from an intensive training in our manufacturing techniques in France. The first Falcon 2000 parts will be delivered by end 2018. The company’s statement comes in the light of French investigative media portal Mediapart claiming to have obtained a Dassault company document in which a senior executive is quoted as saying that the group accepted to work with Reliance as “imperative and obligatory” condition for securing the fighter contract. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had also cited the article on Wednesday in a tweet alleging that Dassault Aviation entered into an agreement with Reliance Defence as it was presented as a “trade-off” which was “imperative and obligatory” to “clinch the Rafale deal”.

Earlier, the Congress had accused the Centre of “manipulating” the process of Rafale fighter jet agreement by “punishing” bureaucrats who raised objections to the deal and rewarding “obliging officials” Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is on a visit to France where she will visit the Dassault factory that is manufacturing the 36 Rafale aircraft for India. According to an NDTV report , Dassault is likely to push for more Rafale jets to be bought by India during the defence minister’s three-day visit.