India and France are entering a new era of defence cooperation with plans to jointly produceRafale fighter jetsas well as helicopters, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, adding the country also hopes to sell more submarines to India.
India’s expected order for another 114 Rafales is a “new step forward" in defence ties between the two countries and France hopes to see this replicated with submarines as well, Macron told reporters at the end of a three-day visit to India.
“On Rafale, what we want to do is expand. India confirmed a few days ago its willingness to command a new bunch of Rafales… 114… and to co-produce in India," Macron said.
“Rafale is absolutely key," Macron said. “I hope we will do it on submarines. We offered additional capacities." The Indian navy operates six French Scorpene submarines.
The Defence Acquisition Council of India’s defence ministry last week gave initial clearance to acquire 114 more Rafale jets for the air force, besides other planes and missiles. So far, India has purchased36 Rafalesfor its air force and ordered another 26 marine versions of the jet for the navy.
Details of theRafaledeal including plans for co-production, expected to be sealed after technical and commercial negotiations, are yet to be made public. The 114 jets manufactured by Dassault Aviation are expected to cost Rs 3.25 lakh crore ($35.65 billion).
According to reports, up to 90 of the 114 jets could be produced inIndiawith a joint venture partner who is yet to be identified. Under the proposed framework, 18 jets will be delivered in “fly-away" condition from France, while the remaining 96 jets are set to be manufactured in India.
India is pushing for 50–60% indigenous content in the locally made jets. Dassault Aviation is expected to establish a final assembly line in India, likely in Nagpur through the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) venture.
“The majority of MRFA to be procured will be manufactured in India. The Combat Missiles will enhance the stand-off ground attack capability withdeep strike powerand very high accuracy," the ministry said.
India on Thursday cleared a long-pending proposal to procure 114Rafalefighter jets under a government-to-government framework with France, nearly two decades after the plan was originally rolled out to boost the Indian Air Force’s combat prowess. The approval for procurement of the Rafale jets, under the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) project, came just four days ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India. The move to procure the jets has come at a time when the number of the Indian Air Force’s fighter squadrons have gone down to 31 from officially sanctioned strength of 42.
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
