NEW DELHI: In the midst of the fire-storm over the Rafale deal in India, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier, producer of the fighter jets, has stated the corporate had chosen Reliance Defence as its offsets spouse and the Indian government had not forced its hands.
Trappier’s observation assumes importance as it contradicts the claim of the opposition and that of former French president Francois Hollande that Dassault Aviation had no selection in deciding on its spouse in the Rafale deal. Hollande’s claim had given ammunition to opposition, particularly Congress, to target the Modi government over the deal and accuse it of favouring a selected company.
“Hollande presented a explanation that the two company selected every different mutually and no person used to be coerced into signing the deal,” Trappier informed ET in an interview. He stated elementary premise that Dassault gave Rs 30,000 crore worth of offset contracts to Reliance is “utterly unfounded and untrue” as it used to be a three way partnership with every company contributing its respective stocks. On pricing, Trappier stated it used to be in the hands of the French government. He stated the “deal is blank” and they're open to any more or less investigation if it falls within the ambit of French regulations. In a separate interview to CNBC TV-18, he stated Dassault selected Reliance as its spouse for the reason that Anil Ambani-led company had land close to the airport at the outskirts of Nagpur, where they could arrange a production facility. He stated Dassault had been in discussions with Reliance Defence and HAL, and that HAL used to be aware of its discussions with Reliance.
After Hollande’s observation, opposition parties had heavily criticised the NDA government, with Congress president Rahul Gandhi announcing it used to be the first time that a former French president had called India’s Prime Minister “a thief”.
Trappier’s observation assumes importance as it contradicts the claim of the opposition and that of former French president Francois Hollande that Dassault Aviation had no selection in deciding on its spouse in the Rafale deal. Hollande’s claim had given ammunition to opposition, particularly Congress, to target the Modi government over the deal and accuse it of favouring a selected company.
“Hollande presented a explanation that the two company selected every different mutually and no person used to be coerced into signing the deal,” Trappier informed ET in an interview. He stated elementary premise that Dassault gave Rs 30,000 crore worth of offset contracts to Reliance is “utterly unfounded and untrue” as it used to be a three way partnership with every company contributing its respective stocks. On pricing, Trappier stated it used to be in the hands of the French government. He stated the “deal is blank” and they're open to any more or less investigation if it falls within the ambit of French regulations. In a separate interview to CNBC TV-18, he stated Dassault selected Reliance as its spouse for the reason that Anil Ambani-led company had land close to the airport at the outskirts of Nagpur, where they could arrange a production facility. He stated Dassault had been in discussions with Reliance Defence and HAL, and that HAL used to be aware of its discussions with Reliance.
After Hollande’s observation, opposition parties had heavily criticised the NDA government, with Congress president Rahul Gandhi announcing it used to be the first time that a former French president had called India’s Prime Minister “a thief”.
India didn’t force choice of Reliance as offset partner, says Dassault CEO
![India didn’t force choice of Reliance as offset partner, says Dassault CEO]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
October 26, 2018
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