Thursday, the Defense Ministry gave the go-ahead for the Indian Navy to buy 26 Rafale fighter planes and three Scorpene class conventional submarines from France.
The plans were approved at a meeting of the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC), which was attended by Defence Minister Rajanth Singh, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Anil Chauhan, the three service chiefs, and top officials.
Sources say that the deals, which have DAC’s “Acceptance of Necessity” stamp of approval, will likely be revealed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to France. On Thursday morning, PM Modi left for a two-day trip to France.
According to the plans, the Indian Navy will get four training planes and 22 single-seat Rafale Marines.
The Navy has been pushing hard to get these fighter planes and ships quickly because the force is short on them and there are security problems all over the country.
The MiG-29s have been used on the aircraft carriers INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant, but the Rafales are needed for both of them to work.
Under the repeat clause, the Navy would buy three Scorpene-class submarines as part of Project 75. These submarines would be built at the Mazagon Dockyards Limited in Mumbai.
The deals are expected to be worth more than Rs 90,000 crore, but the final price won’t be known until contract talks, which will happen after the deal is made public.
Sources say that India is expected to ask for lower prices in the deal and will insist on more “Make-in-India” parts in the plan.
Industry sources say that India and France are likely to form a joint team to negotiate the Rafale-Marine deal, just like they did when they bought 36 Rafale fighter planes before.
The deal would be worked out between the two sides, and only then would it be finalized and put into place.
