A fresh row erupted Friday over the Rafale deal with the Congress alleging that the NDA government has wronged the country by reducing the number of aircraft bought under the deal as it "denied" the IAF the jets it "desperately" needed and gave a "windfall" to Dassault Aviation by paying more per aircraft.
The government, however, rejected as "factually inaccurate" the media report which was cited by the Congress to target it and said it would be best to await the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which has been given access to all the files relating to the contract.
The report claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to buy 36 Rafale jets, instead of 126 as negotiated by the previous UPA government, while bypassing mandated procedures pushed the price of each aircraft up by 41.42 per cent.
Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said the government did not buy the 90 more aircraft needed by the Air Force and paid Rs 186 crore more to French firm Dassault, maker of Rafale, for 13 India-specific enhancements in the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).
The former finance minister while citing the report in 'The Hindu' reiterated his party's demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale jet deal, saying the decision is not amenable to court but to a parliamentary panel.
The Defence Ministry, however, rebutted the allegations saying the report compared "price of 2007 with the price of 2016 without considering the escalation factors inherent in the price bid". The UPA government had started the process of procuring the jets in 2007.
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"The article is factually inaccurate. It does not adduce any new argument. All the issues have been answered in detail by the Government at various fora and most recently by the Raksha Mantri in an open debate in Parliament," a ministry spokesperson said.
Citing the newspaper report, Chidambaram had alleged, "The government has wronged the country in two ways - firstly, it has compromised national security by denying to the Air Force 90 fighter aircraft that they desperately need.
"Secondly, it has purchased two squadrons that will cost about 25 million more per aircraft. At the 2016 exchange rate, Euro 25 million is equal to Rs 186 crore. India will pay Rs 186 crore more per aircraft."
Chidambaram said serious issues are being raised in media reports about the process of decision-making in the NDA government and alleged that "the man who got away was Mr Manohar Parrikar who passed the buck to the Cabinet Committee on Security. Clever man."
CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury alleged, "Modi's sudden announcement in Paris, to buy only 36 Rafale jets, not 126 that the Air Force wanted, violated all procedure. But it also compromised India's national security and increased the price by 41%! That is why Modi has been running scared of sharing details."
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