Rafale deal: Antony refuses govt guarantee to France

[anant_s]

Rafale deal: Antony refuses govt guarantee to France

NEW DELHI: With the UPA-II's tenure coming to an end, France had wanted India to sign a pact to provide government guarantee for completion of negotiation for 126 fighter aircraft with Dassault company but defence minister A K Antony has refused to do so.

France, whose company Dassault has been shortlisted for supplying the multi-role medium combat Rafale aircraft, had proposed the signing of the agreement apparently to ensure that negotiations for the multi-billion dollar deal do not get affected if a different party comes to power after the Lok Sabha elections.

"The French side wanted government guarantee to the negotiations," sources said.

Antony, however, refused to sign such an agreement, arguing that governmental guarantee cannot be provided as negotiations were still underway, they said.

The defence ministry is still negotiating the price and terms and conditions of the contract with the French firm Dassault Aviation, whose Rafale combat aircraft was selected as the lowest bidder two years ago for supplying 126 warplanes.

Antony had recently ordered that the process to arrive at the lowest bidder in the multi-vendor tender be reviewed after completion of the whole procedure involved in the procurement as questions had been raised over it.

The two sides are trying to tackle the issue of life cycle costs (LCC) relating to Rafale.

"There are complaints about the procedure of calculating the life cycle cost and that issue is not yet settled. Before bringing the deal to the Cabinet Committee on Security for final approval, we would like to get clear on that aspect," he had said.

As per the Indian defence procedure, the firms offering lowest prices and meeting the requirements of the respective services are given the contract and in this deal to procure 126 combat aircraft, LCC has been taken into view to determine the lowest bidder.

Senior BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha has written to Antony raising a number of questions over the "conceptual shift" in the defence procurement policy and expressed fears that LCC concept may bring in corruption.

Rafale deal: Antony refuses govt guarantee to France - The Times of India

 

[halupridol]

kya drama hai.....

 

[he-man]

Height of incompetence and stupidity.

Even if we sign contract the delivery will start in 2017 end or 2018 beginning and will go on till about 8-10 years based on 12 per year or at least 6-7 years moving till 2025

Super stupid congress
Wtf are they so concerned for a few billions when they are willing to waste 20-30 billion per year on stupid food security bill.

No offence but pilots flying bisons are under a risk imho.bullshit

We are flying what should have been retired at least 12 years ago


And then we go and pay 40 million per plane for modernization of the mirage 2000

stupidity at its peak

 

[Guynextdoor2]

Good Decision by Antony. With people in the BJP threatening to cancel the deal, it's best to leave the decision to the next government.

 

[rockstarIN]

Dassault fault, should have sweetened the deal and wrapped up much earlier possibly at the end of the year 2013.

Now go cry somewhere else, They should know how things work in India.

 

[he-man]

Dassault fault, should have sweetened the deal and wrapped up much earlier possibly at the end of the year 2013.

Now go cry somewhere else, They should know how things work in India.

Dassault is not flying mig-21 or mirage 2000 but we are.

Its a priority deal for us(for them too) but its a national security perspective for us.

Letting go of rafale is a suicide

 

[rockstarIN]

Dassault is not flying mig-21 or mirage 2000 but we are.

Its a priority deal for us(for them too) but its a national security perspective for us.

Letting go of rafale is a suicide

Nobody is saying that we should let it go.

Under this context, asking a guarantee is stupidity.

 

[he-man]

Nobody is saying that we should let it go.

Under this context, asking a guarantee is stupidity.

All this non signing of the deal is due to contracting economy and most imp that stupid food security bill that has altered economics drastically

I squarely blame congress for this mess

 

[T90TankGuy]

He is right as the negotiations are still on and there will be a new govt within 50 days , he is right to refuse.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

He is right as the negotiations are still on and there will be a new govt within 50 days , he is right to refuse.

Completely agree with yu sirjee !

 

[Guynextdoor2]

Dassault is not flying mig-21 or mirage 2000 but we are.

Its a priority deal for us(for them too) but its a national security perspective for us.

Letting go of rafale is a suicide

Maybe you should ask Subramania Swamy these questions too

 

[Imran Khan]

is desh main $ ki ganga behti hai bhagwaaaan give him $ first for sign

 

[he-man]

Maybe you should ask Subramania Swamy these questions too

swamy can go to hell

Wtf is or was antony doing?
Even u would agree food bill plus 5 pc growth rate are to blame for the mess

Pakfa and rafale combo looks unaffordable from indian perspective

 

[Guynextdoor2]

swamy can go to hell

Wtf is or was antony doing?
Even u would agree food bill plus 5 pc growth rate are to blame for the mess

Pakfa and rafale combo looks unaffordable from indian perspective

antony is not asking for cancellation of Rafal deal.

 

[he-man]

antony is not asking for cancellation of Rafal deal.

It may eventually get cancelled,who knows?

All depends on growth rate.
Pakfa+rafale+tejas mk1 and 2 combo+su-30 at the same time=disaster

Planning cannot get any worse than this