According to persons acquainted with the situation, India and France have yet to finalize negotiations on the technical and commercial parts of arrangements for the Indian military’s planned acquisition of 26 Rafale Marine combat planes and three Scorpene submarines.
On July 13, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began a two-day visit to Paris, and the defence acquisition council (DAC) approved the Indian Navy’s proposals to purchase 26 Rafale M planes and three submarines from France. The official announcements concerning the transactions were largely expected to be made during the visit.
According to the persons, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, too much should not be read into the two deals not being included in a 25-year roadmap released at the end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on July 14. According to them, India is “very clear” on procuring Rafale M fighters and Scorpene submarines.
Negotiations between entities on both sides, including French enterprises and the Indian defense ministry’s procurement department, will now take place before final contracts are signed, according to the sources.
On July 6, France’s Naval Group and India’s state-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) inked a framework memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of three Scorpene submarines. In January, Naval Group signed a new arrangement with the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) to install air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems aboard the submarines.
This is a follow-up order to an earlier agreement in which MDL built six Scorpene or Kalvari-class submarines using Naval Group technology under Project-75, a 23.562-crore initiative.
The people argued that because the original agreement was signed in 2005, more conversations on pricing are required.
The Rafale M fighters and Scorpene submarines negotiations are on track, according to the people, albeit the two sides must negotiate matters such as pricing, delivery dates, and the “Make in India” component.
The two transactions are anticipated to be worth €9 billion to €10 billion combined, while the ultimate price will be set following lengthy discussions between India and France.
People sought to distinguish between the decision by General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to manufacture GE F-414 jet engines in India for the Light Combat Aircraft Mark 2 and plans by France’s Safran Group and DRDO to develop a new engine to power India’s next generation advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA).