All procedures followed in purchase of Rafale fighter jets: Nirmala Sitharaman

Senior Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials have said that the cost of 36 Rafale fighter jets bought from France was about 10 million euros (about USD $ 12 million), cheaper than the original contract negotiated by the previous UPA government.

Over the last few days, Congress party has raised serious questions on the Rafale deal and alleged escalation in prices and irregularities in following procedures.

And, in the first rebuttal from the government, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said "all procedures had been followed".

Sitharaman said that the decision for emergency purchase was taken in the wake of an urgent requirement of the Indian Air Force (IAF). She was speaking to reporters in New Delhi.

"Between 2000-14, the UPA government could not arrive at a decision. Fourteen long years of negotiations and still no decision. That was the situation when our government came to power in 2014. PM Modi understood the loss of time and took the government-to-government route for 36 aircraft. Transfer of technology from France to India made no economic sense", Sitharaman added.

'CONG CAN BE ACCUSED OF ERROR OF OMISSION'

"The Congress can be accused of error of omission", the Defence Minister said, adding that the cost of 36 aircraft was much lesser than the amount under discussion for 126 jets. The Defence Minister, however, refrained from giving out the exact cost of the fighter jets being bought from France.

Sitharaman said that under the Defence Procurement Procedure, it was "allowed to use the government-to-government route to buy the 36 aircraft in fly-away condition at the earliest."

"The procedure was duly followed", she said.

Last September, India had signed a deal worth 7.8 billion euros with France for 36 Rafale jets.

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