The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed 28 contracts with Indian and foreign vendors for capital procurement of defence equipment in the last six months. Of these, while 18 contracts were signed with Indian vendors, 10 were signed with foreign firms, such as from the US, Sweden, Russia and Israel.
However, even as a total Rs 36,944.48 crore worth contracts were signed during the above mentioned period, “no contract has been signed during 2015-16 for procurement of advanced fighter planes,” defence minister Manohar Parrikar told Parliament on Tuesday.
Two months after India and France signed an “inter-governmental agreement” on the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) Rafale purchase during French president Francois Hollande’s visit to India in January, the contract looks elusive.
As latest as March 9-10, officials from the Indo-France defence cooperation committee met here to discuss defence procurements and sharing of defence research and development technologies. According to a senior MoD official, Rafale purchase too came up in the discussion, but no headway could be made. India has been negotiating for a reduced price of nearly Rs 65,000 crore, whereas the French firm is quoting Rs 90,000 crore for the deal.
India is to buy 36 Rafale planes in fly-away condition from France.
Senior officials at MoD further said that hindrances also stay in the form of signing the liability clauses that could bring not just the aircraft manufacturing firm Dassault aviation but the French government too, under the fold of accountability. India’s law ministry too has raised objection to the weak liability clauses.
As the uncertainty over Rafale continues, the Indian Air Forcce (IAF) vice chief air marshal BS Dhanoa on March 10 admitted that with the current strength of fighter jets -- 33 squadrons as compared to the desired 42 -- it was a concern for India. Our numbers are not adequate to execute an air campaign in a two front scenario, Dhanoa told reporters here. He also said that more MMRCA will be needed and other firms Lockheed Martin, Saab, and Boeing too have shared their proposals to the government and is being looked into by the IAF.
Parrikar, meanwhile, on Tuesday told parliament that a proposal for Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for ramping up of production of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas from the present installed capacity of eight to sixteen aircraft per annum by the Bengaluru based HAL is being processed.
An expenditure of Rs 1,259 crore has been proposed for this purpose with 50% funding by HAL, 25% by IAF and 25% by Indian Navy, with timeline of 36 months from the date of sanction, Parrikar said.
IAF is looking to commission a new squadron of the home grown Tejas Light Combat Aircraft which is expected to replace the ageing MiG 21 and MiG 27 aircraft.