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By: Express News Service | New Delhi |
February 9, 2021 2:49:54 am
An Indian Air Force officer wearing a protective face mask at the Ambala Air Force Station before the induction ceremony of the five Rafale jets on September 10, 2020. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal/File) A total of 11 Rafale jets have already arrived in the country and the first five fighters that flew to India in July 2020 were inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) at a ceremony in Ambala in September, the government said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
In 2016, India had bought 36 Rafale fighter jets from France through an intergovernmental agreement for 7.87 billion Euros.
In a written response to a question, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that each new aircraft is inducted into the IAF with a “befitting ceremony” and that the first five Rafale aircraft were inducted on September 10, 2020. He added that “arrangements for this event were made mostly through local resources of IAF” and the “total expenditure on the event was Rs 41.32 lakh, including Rs 9.18 lakh in GST”. He said that by March, the number of Rafales in the country will go up to 17 and that all 36 fighters will be in India by April 2022.