With Rafale Jets arriving in July, here's what you need to know about the billion euro deal

With Rafale jets arriving in Ambala on July 29, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has geared up for their arrival. The 36 jets will be inducted at Ambala station upon arrival.

Here's what you need to know about the Rafale deal:

The Rafale deal was signed in September 2016. The Indian government had inked a direct deal with the French government to purchase 36 new Rafale fighter jets for 7.87 billion euro, after which the government hiked the defence budget to accommodate these costs.  The deal was to bring over 3 billion euro of work to Indian industries over the next seven-to-eight years, The Economic Times reported. 

The Rafale weapons package outguns all other weapons systems in the region giving India the ability to note enemy jets from a distance without being tracked, The Economic Times reported.

The air-to-ground SCALP missile will be able to take down virtually any target with dead accuracy. It also has a range of much over 300 km, giving it the ability to take out targets with extreme accuracy. The Indian jets would not have to cross the Line of Actual Control and conduct strikes from within their own airspace, the report stated.

On March 5, 2018, the Supreme Court (SC) decided to look into the deal, following a PIL seeking an independent probe into Centre’s decision to procure 36 Rafale fighter jets from France and disclosure of the cost involved in the deal before Parliament.

On October 10, the apex court asked the Centre to provide details of the decision-making process in the Rafale fighter jet deal in a sealed cover, the Hindu reported. 

By December 14, 2018, the court said there is no occasion to doubt the decision-making process of the Modi government and dismissed all petitions seeking direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR for alleged irregularities in the jet deal, the report said.

While the deal was initially estimated to be worth Rs 54,000 crore, the National Development Alliance (NDA) said it had gotten significantly better terms than those quoted under the original bid made by the United Progressive Alliance government (UPA), The Economic Times reported.

A saving of more than 1,600 million euro (350 million euro on the cost of aircraft, with a further reported saving on weapons, allied maintenance, and training package amounting to around 1,300 million euro, or Rs 12,600 crore), was reported by the government. However, the cost breakdown between deals was not revealed, the report stated.