CAG report on Rafale tabled in Parliament: Eurofighter Tycoon consortium's offer rejected due to 'factual inaccuracies'

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG ) report on the Rafale deal tabled in Parliament Wednesday stated that the deal with Dassault Aviation’s rival Eurofighter Tycoon consortium fell through due to ‘factual inaccuracies’. The report stated that in July 2014, the Eurofighter Tycoon Jet consortium’s made an unsolicited offer of a 20 percent discount in the price fixed in 2007 to acquire 126 fighter jets. The discount, as per the letter, was in view of ‘further maturity in the Eurofighter typhoon program which had generated synergies’. The consortium also offered a transfer of technology (ToT) deal along with the creation of a Eurofighter Typhoon Industrial Park in India. [caption id=“attachment_1365457” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of a Rafale aircraft. Reuters[/caption] Apart from the ‘inaccuracies’, this offer was also rejected to avoid violation of the Defense Acquisition Procedure (DPP), as per the CAG report. At the same time, the NDA government already commenced procurement of 36 Rafale jets through inter-governmental agreements (IGA) with Dassault Aviation, the lowest bidder in the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) negotiations. The Eurofighter Tycoon Jet consortium comprised of leading aerospace and defence companies from the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. In 2007, the UPA government floated a tender for the acquisition of 126 Rafale fighter jets in which Dassault emerged as the lowest bidder. The negotiations came to a deadlock over the issue of warranty of aircraft produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Additionally, a blank was drawn when the Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC) concluded that each aircraft would cost substantially higher if Indian man hours were applied to Dassault’s cost of production. The NDA then scrapped this deal and inked another one in September 2016 for 36 Rafale jet fighters.