SITHARAMAN VS ANTONY Debate over contract details continues
› The UPA should have ensured that HAL’s offer was appealing enough for Dassault to conclude the agreement… It’s not for us but for the UPA to answer why the agreement did not happen NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, Union defence minister
Since there is a growing perception that the Modi government’s Rafale purchase deal has more skeletons in its closet, let there be a JPC probe to bring out the truth AK ANTONY, former defence minister
NEWDELHI: The NDA government and the Congress locked horns over the controversial ₹59,000crore Rafale deal on Tuesday, with defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman asserting that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) lost out on the chance to build the warplanes because of the previous UPA regime, and former defence minister AK Antony accusing Sitharaman of suppressing facts and demanding that a joint parliamentary committee probe be set up to investigate the deal.
“Dassault Aviation (the maker of Rafale jets) and HAL could not agree on production terms… The UPA government should have ensured that HAL’s offer was appealing enough for Dassault to conclude the agreement (to build 108 Rafale jets in India),” Sitharaman said, while interacting with reporters at the Indian Women’s Press Corps.
The NDA’s decision to enter into a government to government deal with France to buy 36 Rafale warplanes was announced in April 2015 with the deal signed a little over a year later. This replaced the UPA regime’s decision to buy 126 Rafale aircraft, 108 of which were to be made in India by HAL.
Sitharaman said it was for the UPA regime to answer why HAL was not chosen as a partner for the contract. “It’s not for us but for the UPA to answer as to why the agreement between Dassault and HAL did not happen.”
In a separate press conference, Antony accused the government of being guilty of “gravely compromising” national security in the Rafale deal. “Since there is a growing perception that the Modi government’s Rafale purchase deal has more skeletons in its closet, let there be a JPC probe to bring out the truth,” the former minister said. He said the parliamentary committee could reveal the truth by poring over all the files related to the Rafale deal .
Antony accused Sitharaman of trying to blemish the HAL’s image. Last week, Sitharaman said the previous negotiations for 126 fighters collapsed as HAL did not have the required capability to produce the fighters in collaboration with Dassault.
Antony said if the deal negotiated by the NDA was better than the UPA’s then why did the government buy only 36 aircraft and not 126 planes.
A Congress leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, later said leaders of the party planned to meet the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Wednesday to ask for a thorough investigation in the matter.
Sitharaman underlined the government had responded to price issues raised by the Congress in Parliament. “It was our duty to ensure that we get the best price. The price you (UPA) obtained for a basic aircraft when compared with the inter-governmental agreement that we have done, it is 9 per cent cheaper,” she said.
