Not standing with the ongoing controversy over the pricing of Rafale Deal (Jets), The scheduled procedure for procurement of 36 Rafale Jets is very much on Schedule and the first aircraft will be delivered to India in September this year, said an Indian Air Force (IAF) official on Tuesday.
Indian Air Force official: Rafale programme on schedule and first aircraft to be delivered in September this year. The delivery to take place in France and the aircraft would be brought back to India. pic.twitter.com/1kXYuM8tjD
— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2019
The delivery of the aircraft is slated to take place in France and would be brought to India, the official added.
Earlier in the day, IAF’s Deputy Chief Air Marshal VS Chaudhari said that no sovereign guarantees were given by the Russians in the S-400 air missile system deal. Indian Air Force Vice Chief Anil Khosla said, ‘#Rafale induction into the Air Force will give a big boost to our combat capabilities.
Indian Air Force Vice Chief Anil Khosla: #Rafale induction into the Air Force will give a big boost to our combat capabilities pic.twitter.com/CFO3mhsRkR
— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2019
He added while Sharing details of the ongoing exercise, “LCA, Akash missile Defence systems, ALH Dhruv and Airborne Early Warning and Control System Aircraft to represent the indigenous aircraft capability in the exercise” as quoted by ANI.
Earlier in the day, Launching a fresh set of attack Congress President Rahul Gandhi accused PM Modi of acting like a middleman of businessman Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal after a media report stated that Ambani met French Defence officials before the PM announced the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from France.
READ: Rahul Gandhi’s fresh attack over Rafale; ‘PM Modi acted like Middlemen for Anil Ambani’ says Congress Prez
Alleging PM Modi of violating Official Secret Act (OSA), He said, ‘Now PM needs to answer how did Anil Ambani knew 10 days in advance of the Rafale deal. Defence Minister, HAL, Foreign Secy don’t know but Anil Ambani knew’. ‘If this is true then PM is in violation of official secrets act, criminal action must be initiated on this basis’. He added in a Press Conference.
The Congress, claiming that CAG Rajiv Mehrishi has the conflict of interest, said the document will “not be worth” the paper it is written on if the “overt acts of malfeasance” in the contract are ignored in it.
Earlier in December last year, Reportedly Central Government had made the 25 percent payment due to the French government in the over ₹59,000 crore deal.
READ: Amid Rafale Controversy, Modi govt makes 25 percent payment to France govt
The government had ordered 36 Rafale Jets in September 2016. The deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets was inked during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France in 2016.
Congress has repeatedly criticized the deal for the 36 Rafale jets, alleging that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over ₹1,670 crore as against ₹526 crore finalized by the UPA government.
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