France submits final price offer for 26 Rafale-M fighter jet deal for Indian Navy: Report

According to news agency ANI which cited the defence sources the best and final price offer has been submitted to the Indian authorities by the French side

Ahead of India's National Security Advisor(NSA) Ajit Doval's scheduled visit to France, the French side has submitted the final price offer to India for the 26 Rafale Marine(Rafale-M) fighter jet deal. The 26 Rafale-M will be deployed in the Indian Navy's aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

The Rafale-M deal is important for the Indian Navy as it is looking at strengthening its maritime strike capability amid the growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean Region(IOR) .

According to news agency ANI which cited the defence sources the best and final price offer has been submitted to the Indian authorities by the French side for the project and a significant price reduction has been given after tough negotiations in the proposed contract.

The two sides had also held negotiations last week when a French team was in the national capital to finalize the discussions with India, as reported by news agency ANI. The deal is scheduled to be taken up for discussion during the India-France Strategic Dialogue where the Indian NSA is scheduled to meet his French counterparts from tomorrow in Paris.

India has also approved deviations in the letter of request, which is the tender document equivalent in government-to-government deals, like the integration of the indigenous Uttam radar in the jets for the Indian Navy as reported by ANI.

Sources also said to ANI that the integration would have taken a longer time of around eight years along with a high price to be paid to the French side for doing so.

INS Vikrant has been designed as a ski-jump launch ship, different from many other such carriers, which use a catapult launch for their jets.

*With Agency Inputs