India and France are working out details to finalise two big deals to buy 26 Rafael Marine fighter jets and three Scorpene submarines worth nearly Rs 1 lakh crore in total.
The development aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris for the AI Action Summit that India will co-chair with France.
Government officials have told Times of India that the deal worth Rs 63,000 crore for single-seat Rafael-M fighters along with four twin-seat trainers for the Navy is awaiting the final nod from the cabinet committee for security (CCS).
Following inter-ministerial discussions, the Rs 33,500 crore project to build three additional diesel-electric Scorpene submarines in collaboration with France’s Naval Group at Mazagon Docks (MDL) is expected to move forward for approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
“CCS will take up the Rafale-M deal after the PM returns from the France-US trip. The cost negotiations for Scorpenes took a little longer because MDL had originally quoted a high price. The aim is to ink both deals before this fiscal ends on March 31,” a government source told the news outlet.
The two governments are also discussing ways for a collaboration between France’s Safran and India’s DRDO to develop the 110-kilometre jet engine for India’s fifth-generation stealth fighter project.
Meanwhile, the Rafael-M deal includes weapons, simulators, crew training and five-year performance-based logistics support.
Mazagon Docks (MDL) will roll out the first of the three new Scorpene submarines six years after the contract is signed, with the next two following at yearly intervals. The agreement’s cost currently excludes the addition of DRDO’s fuel cell-based air-independent propulsion (AIP) system, designed to extend underwater endurance.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed with a hug by French President Emmanuel Macron at a welcome dinner ahead of co-chairing the AI Summit in Paris.
“Delighted to meet my friend, President Macron in Paris,” Modi posted on X on Monday.
At the dinner, the prime minister also met US Vice President JD Vance, who is also in France to attend the AI Summit.
During his three-day visit to France, Modi will co-chair the AI Action Summit with Macron in Paris, hold bilateral talks with him, and address business leaders.
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