NEW DELHI: on Wednesday decided to set up special negotiation teams to work out in "a time-bound manner" the details of the proposed direct sale of 36 Rafale fighters, which was decided during the Modi-Hollande summit in Paris on April 10. Defence minister and his visiting French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian discussed modalities to reach "an early conclusion of the inter-governmental agreement on the subject", officials said. Though France has offered "better terms and conditions" for the 36 jets, after the Indian government virtually scrapped the deadlocked $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project for 126 such fighters, the nitty-gritty of the new contract are yet to be worked out. The outright purchase of 36 Rafales will be much cheaper than the fighters planned in the original MMRCA project since the latter involved transfer of technology to produce 108 of the 126 jets in India by Hindustan Aeronautics. With Parrikar holding that the acquisition of 126 Rafales would have been "financially a very steep slope to climb", there is still a big question mark over whether India will even go in for more of these fighters after the first 36. If it does, fighter-manufacturer Dassault is likely to enter into a joint venture with a private player.
As expected, India and France set up an intergovernmental committee to finalize the Rafales - a deal the first 36 . The agreement for the purchase of the 126 fighter aircraft will be signed after the committee has completed its work. There remains a big question mark over whether India will go ahead with original plans to buy further Rafale total of 36 were originally agreed