As the French-made Rafale fighter jets continue to do combat air patrol in Ladakh amidst the tension with China, the jets manufacturer has been accused of not fulfilling its commitment to Indian side.
The Comptroller Auditor General of India, in its report titled 'Management of Defence Offset' claimed that M/s Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale jets, along with M/s MBDA, the armaments supplier of the fighter jets, failed to transfer technology to DRDO against its commitment in the deal.
While stating about the offset contract relating to 36 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), the CAG said the vendors M/s Dassault Aviation and M/s MBDA initially proposed (September 2015) to discharge 30 per cent of their offset obligation by offering high technology to DRDO.
"DRDO wanted to obtain technical assistance for the indigenous development of engine (Kaveri) for the light combat aircraft," the CAG report tabled in the Parliament on last day of monsoon session stated, while adding that "Till date the vendor has not confirmed the transfer of this technology."
In September 2016, India and France signed a €7.87 billion Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) which has a 50 per cent offset clause to be executed by the French partners. Dassault Aviation chose Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Defence as the offset partner to execute its share of offset obligations. Selection of Reliance Defence came under criticism as the company has no experience in the defence sector.
The CAG also observed that in many cases, it was found that the foreign vendors made various offset commitments to qualify for the main supply contract, but later, were not earnest about fulfilling these commitments.
The auditor added that in view of the fact that the offset policy has not yielded the desired results, the ministry needs to review the policy and its implementation. It needs to identify the constraints faced and find solutions to overcome these constraints, the CAG added.
