New Delhi: The much-awaited Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the controversial Rs 59,000 crore Rafale deal has found that the agreement signed by the NDA government in 2016 for 36 jets was 2.86 per cent lower than the price negotiated by the UPA government for 126 aircraft.
The report does not disclose the actual price of the 36 Rafale fighter jets contracted by the NDA government but includes examination of the pricing. The prices have been redacted in the audit report based on the insistence of the Defence Ministry citing the Indo-French agreement of 2008 and the provisions of Inter-Government Agreement (IGA).
“Overall, it may be seen that as against the Aligned Price as estimated by Audit of ‘CV’ million Euro, the contract was concluded for ‘U’ million Euro i.e. 2.86 per cent lower than the Audit Aligned Price,” the CAG said in its report on “Capital Acquisition on Indian Air Force” tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.
The report contained audit findings relating to the acquisition of Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft through an IGA with the government of France. “This includes examination of the pricing.”
Going into the methodology of the price comparison, the national auditor said the price offered by M/S Dassault Aviation in April 2008 against the Request For Proposal (RFP) of 2007 was a market discovered price and based on competitive bidding.
The price offer of 2007 had two distinct packages: pricing for 18 flyaway aircraft package and pricing for ToT package for 108 aircraft which were to be licensed produced in India.
The offer of 2015 on the other hand, the CAG said, was only for 36 flyaway fighter aircraft.
The acquisition and price bids of 2007 and 2015 were very different as the latter included the price of ToT for license production of 108 aircraft in India which was 77.8 per cent of the total price bid of 2007.
In a comparative analysis of 2007 and 2015 price bids, the CAG said: “The Aligned Price worked out by INT was ‘U1’ million Euro while the Aligned Price as assessed by the audit was ‘CV’ million Euro which was about 1.23 per cent lower than the INT aligned cost.”
This was the price at which the 2015 contract should have been signed if the prices of 2007 and 2015 were considered at par.
The contract consisted of six different packages – Flyaway aircraft package, Maintenance Package, Indian Specific Enhancements, Weapons Package, Associated Services and Simulator Package.
There were a total of 14 items under these six packages. (IANS)
The report does not disclose the actual price of the 36 Rafale fighter jets contracted by the NDA government but includes examination of the pricing.
The price offer of 2007 had two distinct packages: pricing for 18 flyaway aircraft package and pricing for ToT package for 108 aircraft which were to be licensed produced in India.
The offer of 2015 on the other hand, the CAG said, was only for 36 flyaway fighter aircraft.
The contract consisted of six different packages – Flyaway aircraft package, Maintenance Package, Indian Specific Enhancements, Weapons Package, Associated Services and Simulator Package.