Sudhanshu Mohanty spills beans on govt enhancing benchmark price: Congress

The Congress on Thursday cited former MoD (Finance) head Sudhanshu Mohanty’s revelations to ET to charge the Modi government with “brazen corrupt practices” in enhancing the benchmark price of Rafale aircraft by overruling the objections raised by the defence ministry’s own negotiating team. The opposition party accused the PM of being entirely responsible for fixing the Rafale aircraft at a much higher price.

Referring to Mohanty’s interview, AICC chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said at the official presser: “New revelations further expose brazen corrupt practices in the Rafale scam! The entire spectrum of deception lies at the doorstep of the Prime Minister. Now it is clear PM Modi enhanced the benchmark price for Rafale by €3 billion.”

Maintaining that Mohanty “has spilled the beans, indicting the Modi government of corrupt practices in fixing a higher ‘benchmark price’ – from €5.2 billion (Rs 39,422 crore) to €8.2 billion (Rs 62,166 crore)”, Surjewala said “The negotiating team had a serious dispute on the fixing of benchmark price, which was referred to the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar. The then Defence minister, the ‘Defence Acquisition Council’ headed by the Defence minister, and the three armed forces chiefs also didn’t agree and decided on the higher benchmark price of €8.2 billion. DAC referred it to the ‘Cabinet Committee on Security’ headed by PM Modi.


Modi at the CCS accepted the higher ‘benchmark price’ of €8.2 billion instead of €5.2 billion.” Surjewala then asked“Why did PM Modi set a higher benchmark price?”