Express News Service
NEW DELHI: India has been very clear that it will acquire 26 Rafale-M (Marine) jets and three Scorpene submarines from France despite the deal not being announced as part of the joint statement released after the conclusion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris last week.
It has been mentioned that the price and terms of purchase for the Rafale-M aircraft would be negotiated with the French Government after taking into account all relevant aspects, including comparative procurement price of similar aircraft by other countries.
“India and France will begin negotiations on cost and other aspects of the 26 Rafale-M jets and three Scorpene submarines,” said sources adding that these two deals are valued at around 10 billion euros.
“These deals were not included in the roadmap (Roadmap on Indo-French Strategic Partnership Horizon 2047 – which was a vision document) as it was for the next 25 years,” sources said adding that the negotiations would be done by French companies and India’s Defence Ministry.
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had cleared the Indian Navy’s proposal to acquire 26 Rafales and three submarines from France a day ahead of PM Modi’s visit to France on July 13th.
Meanwhile, France’s Naval Group and state-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) signed a framework memorandum of understanding (MoU) on July 6 on building three Scorpene submarines in India. Naval Group signed another agreement with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in January for fitting air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems on the submarines.
This will be a follow-on order to an earlier deal whereby MDL built six Scorpene or Kalvari-class submarines with technology from Naval Group under a programme called Project-75.
“Since the original deal was concluded in 2005, further discussions are needed for the pricing,” sources pointed out adding that the Scorpene will be co-developed by India and France and will be next generation. The design and engineering of the defence equipment will be customized to meet India’s specific requirements, with Indian and French engineers collaborating on the project.
Sources believe that the objective of these negotiations will also involve the “transfer of technology to India and not just being offered something off the shelf.”
For the Scorpene deal, the pricing, date of delivery and the parts that would be Made in India – are the parameters that are going to be negotiated.