RAFALE DEAL : A COMPLICATION

WELCOME TO AnalytIQ. TODAY OUR TOPIC IS ABOUT THE RAFALE DEAL BETWEEN  INDIAN GOVT. AND FRANCE.

• OVERVIEW :-

INDIAN AIR FORCE IS ONE OF THE FINEST AIR FORCE IN THE WORLD. THIS ORGANIZATION ALSO FACED BOTH , UPS AND DOWNS, DURING 1962 WAR AND 1965 WAR. TODAY IAF IS RANKED 4th IN THE WORLD. IT HAS BEEN A GREAT HISTORY OF IAF TILL DATE. IAF HAS ACCOMPLISHED MANY IMPOSSIBLE MISSIONS. AFTER THE LESSON GAINED FROM THE 1962 AND 1965 WAR , INDIAN GOVT. ALSO STRESSED THEIR ATTENTION TO EQUIPMENTS AND AMMUNITION FOR ARMED FORCES. THEN INDIA BROUGHT THE SUPERSONIC JET  MIG - 21(MIG - MIKOYAN I GURIEVICH)  FROM RUSSIAN AIR FORCE.IT WAS COMMISSIONED IN 1963 IN IAF. IT HAS BEEN A MORE THAN 50 YEARS IN IAF. THIS FIGHTER AIR CRAFT WAS ONE OF THE BEST FIGHTER IN ITS ERA. IT HAS ALSO ACCOMPLISHED MANY MISSIONS INCLUDING 1971 WAR,CONGO CRISIS , KARGIL WAR....and many more. BUT TILL DATE THIS FIGHTER IS IN THE SERVICE. IT IS SAD TO LISTEN THAT THIS FIGHTER ALONE HAD TAKEN MORE THAN 170 PILOT LIFE. IT IS TAGGED AS FLYING COFFINS. THE MOST LATEST FIGHTER IN IAF IS SUKHOI 30 (SU - 30) WHICH WAS BROUGHT FROM RUSSIA IN 90'S. IAF HAS OFFICIALLY 31 SQUADRON AND OUT OF THOSE 11 SQUADRON IS OF MIG 21 AND MIG 29. THE BATCH OF  MIG 21 WILL BE DECOMMISSIONED TILL 2022. SO IAF SQUADRON WOULD FALL FROM 31 TO 20 . THIS WOULD MARK DEVASTATING IMPACT ON IAF.

• THE RAFALE DEAL OF 2012 :-

 IN 2007 , INDIAN PARLIAMENT WITNESSED A DEBATE ON BUYING ADVANCED FIGHTER AIRCRAFT. THEN IN 2007, DEFENSE MINISTRY ACCEPTED THE PROPOSAL FOR 126 MMRCA FIGHTER JET. MMRCA STANDS FOR MEDIUM MULTI ROLE COMBAT AIRCRAFT. VARIOUS COMPANIES SUBMITTED THEIR BIDS. IN MAY 2011 , 2 AIRCRAFTS WERE SHORTLISTED. THOSE WERE EURO-FIGHTER TYFOON AND DASSAULT RAFALE. THEN NAVIGATION  STARTED IN JANUARY 2012 WITH DASSAULT AVIATION FOR RAFALE AIRCRAFTS . THESE DEAL WAS TO PURCHASE 126 FIGHTER JETS. OF WHICH 18 FIGHTER JETS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE "OFF THE SHELF" MEANS THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE MANUFACTURED IN FRANCE.AND THE REMAINING 108 WERE SUPPOSED TO BE MANUFACTURED IN INDIA BY HAL. DASSAULT AVIATION WAS SUPPOSED TO TRANSFER THE TECHNOLOGY TO HAL.

• THE NEW RAFALE DEAL (2015) :-

IN 2015, INDIAN FOREIGN SECRETARY STATED THAT NEGOTIATION AMONG INDIAN GOVT. , HAL, DASSAULT's AVIATION ARE STILL NOT OVER. AFTER 2 DAYS PM MODI WENT TO FRANCE AND SUDDENLY ON 10TH APRIL 2015 A JOINT STATEMENT WAS ISSUED BY THE INDIAN AND FRENCH GOVT. THAT A NEW DEAL WILL BE STRUCK. AS PER AS THE NEW DEAL, 36 RAFALE AIRCRAFT TO BE PURCHASED BY THE INDIAN GOVT. ALL OF WHICH IN FLY AWAY CONDITION. THE OPPOSITION QUESTIONED THIS MOVE AS PM MODI FINALIZED THIS DEAL WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE CABINET COMMITTEE ON SECURITY. AND WHAT ABOUT THE OLD DEAL? ON 23 SEPTEMBER, 2016 AN INTER GOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WAS FINALIZED AND SIGNED.

• WHAT IS AN OFFSET CLAUSE ? 

OFFSET CLAUSE IS A REQUIREMENT UNDER WHICH THE SUPPLIER IS BOUND TO SPEND A PART OF MONEY IN A SPECIFIC PLACE DECIDED BY THE BUYER AND SUPPLIER. IN THE NEW RAFALE DEAL THERE IS A OFFSET CLAUSE FOR 50% OF THE VALUE . THE DEAL IS WORTH OF 60,000 CRORES WHICH MEANS INDIA WILL BUY FIGHTER JETS FROM DASSAULT FOR 60,000 CRORES.OUT OF IT DASSAULT HAS TO INVEST 50% OF IT, 30,000 CRORES IN INDIA.TECHNICALLY, IT SHOULD BE UP TO DASSAULT , TO DECIDE IN WHICH INDIAN COMPANIES IT WANTS TO INVEST. ON 3RD OCT 2016, ANIL AMBANI's RELIANCE GROUP STARTED A JOINT VENTURE WITH DASSAULT AVIATION WHICH NAMED AS DASSAULT RELIANCE AEROSPACE Ltd.

• WHY THERE IS A DEBATE ?

OPPOSITION THINKS THAT THE GOVT. ASKED THE DASSAULT TO INVEST IN THAT VENTURE ONLY, SO THAT RELIANCE WOULD BE IN PROFIT.THEY THOUGHT THAT THE GOVT. IS DOING BIASED VENTURE WITH RELIANCE. WHEN UPA SIGNED THE DEAL,THEN THE RESPONSIBILITY WAS GIVEN TO HAL(HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS LIMITED), BUT THIS TIME IT IS GIVEN TO A PRIVATE COMPANY. THE CABINET AND GOVT. SAID IN THE RESPONSE THAT THE IAF NEEDS THESE PLANES EARLY, AND HAL COULD'NT ABLE TO FINISH THE WORK ON TIME ACCORDING TO THE PAST RECORDS.

• BUT THESE DISCUSSIONS WILL BE  GOING ON. THESE DEBATES WILL BE THERE.BUT THEY SHOULD THINK THAT AFTER ALL THIS IAF,ARMED FORCES ARE READY TO FIGHT FOR THEIR COUNTRY. IT IS THE MATTER OF CONCERN FOR INDIAN GOVT. THESE FORCES ARE ONLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SWEET DREAMS OF THE CITIZENS . WE MUST SALUTE TO OUR BRAVE SOLDIERS.

          JAI HIND

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HARSHIT