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Rafale jets vs ghas ki roti
- Govt gears up to justify high cost of ensuring safe borders
SUJAN DUTTA
New Delhi, April 19: The Narendra Modi government is preparing to justify the anticipated whopping cost of acquiring the Rafale fighter aircraft by laying stress on safe borders and skies, without which "we will not be able to afford even ghas ki roti (bread made of grass)".
Guns versus butter is a debate that has dogged expensive military acquisitions not only in India but governments the world over. Such are the times for the Modi administration that the Indian Air Force has sounded the alarm over its fast-depleting fleet of fighter aircraft when the country is going through rural distress. Jets versus " ghas ki roti" has a wicked ring to it.
The minister of state for defence, Rao Inderjit Singh, said today that the last hitches in signing the contract for 36 Rafale aircraft would be ironed out in a meeting of the defence acquisitions council scheduled on Thursday.
Estimates of the cost of the deal range from the euro equivalent of Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 65,000 crore with a mean of about Rs 1,700 crore per aircraft. The value will include the cost of training IAF crew, supply of spares over a specified period and the establishment of one or more bases for the aircraft. The cost of each Rafale would roughly equal the cost of about six home-made Tejas light combat aircraft. The Tejas is not yet fully operational.
A Rafale jet (left); a roti made of grass
Asked if the political cost of acquiring the Rafale was bearable when people in drought-stricken regions such as Bundelkhand were reported to be eating ghas ki roti and farmers in Maharashtra had run out of water, the minister said: "The country can develop only when its borders are safe; when the skies above are safe. And if you do not have that security, even ghas ki roti will not be affordable".
Prime Minister Modi committed to buy the 36 Rafale jets during his visit to Paris a year ago. He had also said that the jets would be bought on terms more favourable for India than those that had been negotiated under the UPA regime through the MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) route, the competition through which the French plane was selected by the IAF. When the MMRCA process was initiated in 2007, the defence establishment under A.K. Antony estimated it would cost about Rs 48,000 crore to acquire 126 planes. Modi's announcement in Paris in April last year led to the scuttling of the MMRCA process and the initiation of a direct off-the-shelf purchase deal for 36 aircraft from France's Dassault Aviation.
But cost escalations since the time the Rafale was selected in 2012, the falling value of the Indian rupee and the delay in contracting have made it difficult for negotiators to beat down the price despite defence minister Manohar Parrikar's assertion that he is a tough bargainer. The Rafale jets were rejected on the grounds of cost by at least four countries. In the past year, however, the French have got firm orders from Egypt and Qatar apart from their own Armee d'l air.
"The Rafale is needed," Rao Inderjit Singh emphasised today. "The LCA (Tejas) is also needed. And our effort is to ensure that whatever funds are available with the ministry of defence are used optimally to modernise the air force," he said.
The minister was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on "Make in India" at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) where Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha also spoke.
In January this year, during the French President's participation as the chief guest in the Republic Day parade, Prime Minister Modi and President Francois Hollande signed a memorandum of agreement to purchase 36 Rafale combat jets. But the memorandum did not include the contract because New Delhi and Paris were still bargaining over the cost.
Defence ministry sources said the contract will oblige the French to 50 per cent offsets. This means that the
French will have to re-invest 50 per cent of the cost into production arrangements in India. When the negotiations began in July last year, the French had agreed to 30 per cent offsets.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160420/jsp/nation/story_81202.jsp#.Vxa_E545CUk
- Govt gears up to justify high cost of ensuring safe borders
SUJAN DUTTA
New Delhi, April 19: The Narendra Modi government is preparing to justify the anticipated whopping cost of acquiring the Rafale fighter aircraft by laying stress on safe borders and skies, without which "we will not be able to afford even ghas ki roti (bread made of grass)".
Guns versus butter is a debate that has dogged expensive military acquisitions not only in India but governments the world over. Such are the times for the Modi administration that the Indian Air Force has sounded the alarm over its fast-depleting fleet of fighter aircraft when the country is going through rural distress. Jets versus " ghas ki roti" has a wicked ring to it.
The minister of state for defence, Rao Inderjit Singh, said today that the last hitches in signing the contract for 36 Rafale aircraft would be ironed out in a meeting of the defence acquisitions council scheduled on Thursday.
Estimates of the cost of the deal range from the euro equivalent of Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 65,000 crore with a mean of about Rs 1,700 crore per aircraft. The value will include the cost of training IAF crew, supply of spares over a specified period and the establishment of one or more bases for the aircraft. The cost of each Rafale would roughly equal the cost of about six home-made Tejas light combat aircraft. The Tejas is not yet fully operational.
A Rafale jet (left); a roti made of grass
Asked if the political cost of acquiring the Rafale was bearable when people in drought-stricken regions such as Bundelkhand were reported to be eating ghas ki roti and farmers in Maharashtra had run out of water, the minister said: "The country can develop only when its borders are safe; when the skies above are safe. And if you do not have that security, even ghas ki roti will not be affordable".
Prime Minister Modi committed to buy the 36 Rafale jets during his visit to Paris a year ago. He had also said that the jets would be bought on terms more favourable for India than those that had been negotiated under the UPA regime through the MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) route, the competition through which the French plane was selected by the IAF. When the MMRCA process was initiated in 2007, the defence establishment under A.K. Antony estimated it would cost about Rs 48,000 crore to acquire 126 planes. Modi's announcement in Paris in April last year led to the scuttling of the MMRCA process and the initiation of a direct off-the-shelf purchase deal for 36 aircraft from France's Dassault Aviation.
But cost escalations since the time the Rafale was selected in 2012, the falling value of the Indian rupee and the delay in contracting have made it difficult for negotiators to beat down the price despite defence minister Manohar Parrikar's assertion that he is a tough bargainer. The Rafale jets were rejected on the grounds of cost by at least four countries. In the past year, however, the French have got firm orders from Egypt and Qatar apart from their own Armee d'l air.
"The Rafale is needed," Rao Inderjit Singh emphasised today. "The LCA (Tejas) is also needed. And our effort is to ensure that whatever funds are available with the ministry of defence are used optimally to modernise the air force," he said.
The minister was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on "Make in India" at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) where Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha also spoke.
In January this year, during the French President's participation as the chief guest in the Republic Day parade, Prime Minister Modi and President Francois Hollande signed a memorandum of agreement to purchase 36 Rafale combat jets. But the memorandum did not include the contract because New Delhi and Paris were still bargaining over the cost.
Defence ministry sources said the contract will oblige the French to 50 per cent offsets. This means that the
French will have to re-invest 50 per cent of the cost into production arrangements in India. When the negotiations began in July last year, the French had agreed to 30 per cent offsets.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160420/jsp/nation/story_81202.jsp#.Vxa_E545CUk
