On The Rafale Deal Scam
The
facts emerging about the Modi Government’s deal with the French company
Dassault aviation to purchase Rafale fighter jets suggest a serious
case of crony capitalism, causing a massive loss to the public
exchequer.
The
previous deal that the UPA Government was making involved buying 126
Rafale jets for Rs 54,000 crore – 18 of which would be in a ready-to-fly
condition while the rest would be manufactured by the public sector
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) using technology that Dassault would
be obligated to transfer. This deal was cancelled, and the new deal
signed by the Modi Government instead obtained 36 jets (in a
ready-to-fly condition) at Rs 58,000 crore, minus the transfer
technology. The Modi Government has no explanation for this grossly
higher price paid for far lesser value. Moreover, Anil Ambani, owner of
the Reliance Defence Limited (RDL) company, accompanied Prime Minister
Modi on his France trip on which the Rafale Deal was made, and instead
of HAL, it was the RDL which has secured a partnership with Dassault.
Why
did the Modi Government cancel the older, more favourable deal in
favour of a deal that proves costlier and less favourable? Why did the
Modi Government’s deal do away with the clause requiring Dassault to
transfer technology that would allow HAL to manufacture and maintain the
Rafale jets? Did the new deal prioritise corporate interests of the
Ambani-owned RDL over the country’s interests? These are all pressing
questions which the Modi Government has refused to answer.
The
Bofors scam in the late 1980s had brought down a Congress Government
and rightly become a matter of national concern over corruption. The
Rafale scam, which is of far greater proportions than Bofors was,
demands an impartial probe.
ML Update
A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine
Vol. 20 | No. 48 | 21- 27 November 2017
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