Rafale deal: Centre places pricing details in sealed cover before Supreme Court

The Centre on Monday placed in a sealed cover before the Supreme Court the price details of 36 Rafale fighter jets which India is buying from France. The apex court had last month sought more information from the government on the Rafale jet deal, including details of its pricing.

A file photo of a Rafale fighter jet. Photo: AFP

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday placed in a sealed cover before the Supreme Court the price details of 36 Rafale fighter jets which India is buying from France. The apex court had last month sought more information from the government on the Rafale jet deal, including details of its pricing. The Centre's counsel said that it has apprised the details with regard to the pricing/cost to the apex court in a sealed cover. On the last hearing, the Centre was reluctant to share the price details and Attorney General K K Venugopal had told a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that pricing details of these jets were not even shared with Parliament. The apex court on November 14 will peruse the documents pertaining to the pricing details. The Centre also made public the document titled "Details of the steps in the decision making process leading to the award of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft order", which stated that the process as laid down in the Defence Procurement Procedure-2013 has been followed in procurement of the Rafale aircraft. India signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of the Indian Air Force equipment. The estimated cost of the deal is Rs 58,000 crore. The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation. The Congress has been alleging irregularities in the deal signed by the Narendra Modi government to purchase Rafale fighter jets, saying that it had caused a loss of Rs 41,000 crore to the exchequer compared to the deal negotiated by the previous UPA government and that the Dassault was forced to choose Reliance as its Indian partner for the offset contract. (With inputs from agencies)