‘114 Rafale jets at ₹3.25 lakh crore’: India's largest-ever defence deal to come up at ministry meet, says report

The Indian defence ministry is going to take up internal discussion for a possible deal worth around ₹3.25 lakh crore for buying 114 Rafale fighter jets from France, news agency ANI has reported. The high-level meeting of the ministry will be held this week, the report added, citing sources.

If approved, this would be India's largest-ever defence deal and would take the number of Rafale jets in the Indian military to 176. The air force already has 36; while the navy placed orders for 26 last year.

Top defence sources told the news agency about the proposal; that the deal would also also include 12-18 Rafale jets to be acquired by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in ready, fly-away condition. Most of the planes otherwise will be manufactured in India with an indigenous content of around 30 per cent, sources reportedly said.

India is purportedly moving ahead with the deal with France when both the United States of America and Russia have offered their fifth-generation fighters, including the F-35 and the Su-57, respectively, to the IAF, the report noted.

While the indigenous content in these aircraft would be around 30 per cent, generally such content required in ‘Make in India’ deals is around 50-60 per cent, it further said.

The Indian side is also asking France to enable the integration of Indian weapons and other indigenous systems into the French aircraft under the government-to-government deal, ANI cited sources as saying. The source codes will remain with the French side.

“The Statement of Case (SoC) or the proposal for the 114 Rafale jets prepared by the Indian Air Force was received by the Defence Ministry a few months ago. Once approved by the Defence Ministry, the proposal will have to be given final clearance by the Cabinet Committee on Security,” ANI quoted a source as saying.

The move to take the proposal forward came soon after the Rafale's performance against Pakistan in Operation Sindoor, where it is claimed to have comprehensively beaten the Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missiles using its Spectra Electronic Warfare suite.

The French side is also planning to set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility for the M-88 engines, which are used by Rafale jets, in Hyderabad. The French firm Dassault has already set up a firm to look after the maintenance of fighter jets. Indian aerospace firms such as Tata are also likely to be part of the manufacturing, the ANI report added.

India has an urgent need to induct fighter jets to address the growing threat perception in the region. The IAF's fighter jet force structure is expected to be primarily comprised of the Su-30 MKIs, Rafales, and indigenous fighter jet projects. India has already ordered 180 LCA Mark 1A jets and also has plans to induct the indigenous fifth-generation fighter in large numbers beyond 2035.