Rafale Deal: ’Modi government got a 2.86% cheaper price than UPA’

Comptroller and Auditor General report remains silent on offset partners in the deal, a point on which the Congress has been attacking the government

Rafale Deal: 'Modi government got a 2.86% cheaper price than UPA'

Congress President Rahul Gandhi with party leaders during a protest against the Rafale deal, near Mahatma Gandhiu00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0099s statue inside Parliament House complex, in New Delhi, on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

The Rafale deal signed by the Modi government to procure 36 fighter jets from France's Dassault got 2.86 per cent cheaper price than what was negotiated during the previous UPA regime in 2007, the much-awaited CAG report on the controversy-hit transaction showed on Wednesday.

Without disclosing pricing details in absolute terms, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said the deal was 6.54 per cent expensive in terms of engineering support package and performance-based logistics for the Indian Air Force, while the training costs has got 2.68 per cent expensive than the 2007 offer.

The CAG also flagged the drawbacks of settling for a 'Letter of Comfort' rather than a sovereign guarantee by the French government and said Dassault benefitted due to absence of such guarantees.

Cong: Chowkidar Auditor General
In a blistering attack, the Congress dubbed the CAG report on the Rafale deal as a "Chowkidar Auditor General" report and said the claim that the Modi government's contract to procure 36 jets got 2.86 per cent cheaper price than the UPA-era offer was "fake".

NCP questions authenticity
The NCP on Wednesday questionned the report's "authenticity" and claimed a "conflict of interest" by referring to CAG Rajiv Mehrishi's previous stint as Union finance secretary.

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