The Supreme Court verdict on the Rafale deal comes as a big boost to expedite defence procurements, including Government-to-Government contracts. India desperately needs modern weapon systems to maintain operational preparedness and the verdict now allows the decision makers to go ahead without looking over their shoulders.
However, the Government is not yet off the hook as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is likely to table its report on offsets in the Rs 59,000-crore deal in the Winter Session of Parliament, beginning next Monday.
With the apex court now giving a clean chit to the Rafale deal, the officials will surely now feel more confident of discharging their duties and help the Services to acquire modern weapons to face the likelihood of a two-front war with Pakistan and China.
Facing the twin challenge, India urgently needs submarines to shore up its present strength of 14 ageing submarines besides modern warships to patrol the strategically important Indian Ocean.
Similarly, the IAF immediately requires efforts to address the issue of the depleting strength of its fighter jet squadron. At present, the squadron strength is 31 while the desired level is 42. Even if the Government gives clearance for acquisition now, the process of increasing the fleet will take another decade given the long gestation period of defence contracts.
As for the awaited CAG report, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has time and again alleged that Reliance was given a major chunk of offsets and charged the NDA regime with cronyism. As per the contract, the offsets are 50 per cent of the overall deal and the manufacturer has to tie up with Indian ventures to plough back the offset amount into the country.
The CAG report covers audit of nearly 30 offset contracts of Army, Navy and IAF for 2012-13 and 2017-18.
The NDA has all along refuted the Congress allegations of favoritism. The offset deal in the Rafale deal led to controversy with the Congress demanding a CBI probe as to how Reliance Defence of Anil Ambani was awarded the offset contract.
The earlier CAG report tabled in Parliament in February this year pertained to pricing issue and other related matters pertaining to the process of procurement of the Rafale jet. The Government watchdog, however, did not include the offset examination in that report.
Meanwhile, former IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal (retired) BS Dhanoa on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict and said the ruling vindicated the Government’s position and that it will have positive impact on overall military procurement.
The political controversy relating to purchase of 36 Rafale jets from France peaked during Dhanoa’s tenure as chief of the air staff and he had stoutly defended the deal. “It is a welcome verdict, vindicating the Government’s position on the issue. We are happy that finally the controversy is buried,” Dhanoa said. He retired from the top job two months back.
The former IAF chief said he had defended the deal on merit and considering the requirement of the IAF, referring to criticism in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls that he was making political comments about the procurement.
Dhanoa maintained that deal was clean and exuded confidence that the verdict by the apex court would have a positive impact on procurement of military platforms by the IAF, the Indian Army and the Navy. “It is a good verdict for the armed forces,” he said.
During his tenure, Dhanoa strongly backed the deal asserting it was sealed following a transparent procurement procedure and that the Rafale jets would significantly enhance the IAF’s combat capabilities.
India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets. The first batch of four Rafale jets will arrive in India by May 2020.
The aircraft is capable of carrying a range of potent weapons and missiles. The IAF has already completed preparations, including readying required infrastructure and training of pilots, to welcome the fighter aircraft.
The first squadron of the aircraft will be deployed at Ambala air force station, considered one of the most strategically located bases of the IAF. The second squadron of Rafale will be stationed at Hasimara base in West Bengal.
The Rafale jets will come with various India-specific modifications, including Israeli helmet-mounted displays, radar warning receivers, low band jammers, 10-hour flight data recording, infra-red search and tracking systems among others.
