Rafale M Deal: India negotiating lower price after Rs 56,000-cr offer by France

New Delhi: The defence ministry is negotiating to lower the acquisition price for Rafale M fighter jets that have been selected to meet the requirement of aircraft carrier-borne combat aircraft of the Indian Navy.

Sources said that the second round of price negotiations have started in the South Block and the Indian side is looking to get the best deal after the French side submitted a bid of around Rs 56,000 crore for 26 fighter jets.

The fighter jets are urgently required as two Indian aircraft carriers -- INS Vikramaditya and Vikrant -- are now in service and the current fleet of MiG 29K fighters have shown below par performance due to maintenance-related issues.

The Navy had conducted trials, earlier on the Rafale M as well as the F/A 18 Super Hornet, that was on offer from US' Boeing. After the trials, the Navy selected the French option as the winner and detailed techno-commercial negotiations started earlier this year.

The jets will be customised to Indian requirements and have to be integrated into the aircraft carriers that have a Russian origin Aviation Facility Complex (AFC), presenting some technical hurdles.

The fighter jets are to be bought off the shelf as the numbers are not adequate to set up a production line in India. France, on its part, has been pitching a larger deal for the Rafale fighters and has offered to set up a production line if the order book reaches around a hundred aircraft.

The Rafale is already in service with the Air Force -- 36 of the jets were ordered in 2016 for close to Rs 59,000 crore -- and the French side is strongly pitching it to be acquired in greater numbers. The Air Force has a requirement of 114 fighter jets of the same type but, as of now, seems to be going for a competitive bidding process for the acquisition.

The carrier-borne jets are being acquired as a stop-gap solution till the development of an indigenous carrier-borne fighter jet. The development of a Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter is currently underway but is expected to take close to a decade to be operational.