BENGALURU: Insinuating at corruption and nepotism in the
Rafale fighter aircraft deal, KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao on Thursday demanded that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi come clean on the price the country would have to pay for the jets.
“What is the problem in Modi disclosing the price of the jets if there is nothing to hide?” Gundurao asked. “Modi should disclose details of the deal or else
Congress will not only start a nation-wide protest but also expose Modi before the nation.”
As per the deal the UPA government had struck with Dassault Aviation in 2012, the French company that manufactures the jets, India was to purchase 126 aircraft of which the company would supply 18 and the remaining would have been manufactured in India. The deal also included transfer of technology.
“But Modi scrapped the deal without any reason and entered into a fresh agreement to buy only 36 aircraft,” Gundurao claimed. “Though the Modi government has not revealed the price at which the aircraft are being purchased, the annual report of Dassault Aviation revealed that the deal amount is $7.5 billion which works out to around Rs 1,670 crore per aircraft. Modi must explain the escalation in price.”
He also alleged that Modi neither consulted the defence minister nor the cabinet committee on defence before signing the new deal. “When asked, he said because of the urgency he changed the deal and decided to procure 36 aircraft in fly away condition. But more than 30 months have passed and not a single aircraft has come to India,” Gubdurao alleged.
He also alleged that the new deal gives Dassault the discretion to choose an Indian partner for its offset requirements. Accordingly, Dassaut allotted Rs 21,000 crore worth offsets to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd, a company that had not produced a single defence item at the time the contract was awarded. Gundurao claimed that “this is bypassing PSU HAL with a history of 70 years” and an “organization that has worked for defence and civil aircraft manufacturers across the world”.
