“Make in India” Rafale Jets will Empower India to Manufacture Futuristic Combat Aircraft
Published on : Friday 31-07-2020
In September 2016, India signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with France where India would pay Rs 58,000 crore (7.87 billion euros) for the 36 twin-engine fighters. Around 15% of this cost is being paid in advance. Including the 36 aircraft, India would also get some latest weaponry like the Meteor and Scalp missiles.
The agreement included an offset clause, which stated that of the total 7.8 billion euros, France would invest 20% into local production of the Rafale components to further the Make-in-India initiative and 30% will go into various aeronautical and military research programmes in India.
Out of around 75 firms listed under the offset clause, the makers of Rafale, Dassault Aviation, was allowed to choose any company it wants for France to invest the said amount, the deal stated.
"Yes, of course. We will see how we can carry forward with the 'Make in India' initiative. We are open to manufacturing Rafales in India" Dassault CEO
India Begins Manufacturing Parts for Rafale Fighter Jets in Nagpur
At present, French manufacturers are executing the order for 36 jets and investing 50% of the €7.8 billion contract price in the Indian aerospace and defense sectors as part of the offsets clause, with a factory in partnership with Reliance Defence at Nagpur also geared to produce the Falcon executive jets.
The Nagpur facility of Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) was initially making only cockpits for the French manufacturer’s Falcon business jets, besides other parts. The facility was only meant to manufacture components for Falcon jets and not for the Rafale jets.
The first set of doors that cover the twin engines of the fighter jets has come out of the Nagpur facility, which is a joint venture of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence and French firm Dassault Aviation.
HAL back on Rafale Radar talks on for making jets in India
French aircraft manufacturer Dassault and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have worked most recently on a $2.1 b deal to upgrade IAF’s Mirage 2000 fleet.
While the contours of a possible partnership have not been finalized, those detailed discussions have taken place on how HAL facilities and expertise could be used for the next round of localization when more jets.