On Friday, the Congress said the Modi Government was guilty of compromising National Security. Adding the Government put the nation in Rs. 12,632 crores loss from the State exchequer. The amount was used to purchase 36 Rafale Fighter Jets.
The Congress alleged the annual report of Dassault Aviation and the makers of the aircraft show the jets were sold to India at a higher price than the ones sold to Qatar and Egypt just 11 months ago.
Congress Leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Randeep Surjewala stated 36 Rafale jets were sold to India for € 7.5 billion in 2016. However, 48 of the same jets were sold to Qatar and Egypt at € 7.9 billion in 2015.
India paid Rs. 1,670.70 crores per aircraft whereas Qatar and Egypt paid Rs. 1,319.80 crores. This is a whopping Rs. 351 crores difference in the sale of the Rafale aircraft.
At a Joint Press Conference, Surjewala and Azad asserted that the Modi Government canceled the original deal the UPA struck for the aircraft. If the Government went for the original deal it would have saved Rs. 41,212 crores.
Azad said, “Is this not compromising with national security? Why are prime minister and defense minister hiding the purchase price? Is it correct that per aircraft pricing of Rafale as per bid dated 12 December 2012 (during the UPA Congress government) was Rs. 526.1 crore as against the Modi Government’s per aircraft purchase price of Rs. 1,670.70 crore?”
The Congress leader went on to say the Government made the deal in the absence of prior clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security.
