What were the alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal?

Price escalation

The Congress Party alleged that the BJP-led government procured each aircraft at a much higher price than what was finalised by the UPA government.

Lack of transparency & favouritism

The party accused the Central government of promoting crony capitalism by ‘influencing’ Dassault to pick Reliance Defence as its local partner. The party demanded answers from the government on why state-run aerospace major HAL was not involved in the deal. It also alleged that Reliance Defence was formed just 12 days before the announcement of the Refale deal and that Reliance was chosen in a process that lacked transparency.

Absence of Cabinet approval

It alleged that the Modi government announced the deal without the approval from Cabinet Committee on Security. The Congress demanded a probe into the issue.

Parallel parleys

Based on documents from the Ministry of Defence, it was alleged that the Prime Minister’s Office was conducting ‘parallel negotiation’ with French officials on the fighter plane deal.

 

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