NEW DELHI: India will induct the French-made Rafale combat jet in September, the chief of the Indian air force B.S. Dhanoa said on Monday.
India has ordered 36 planes from Dassault Aviation as part of a modernisation programme of the air force which is phasing out its Soviet-era planes.
Former French President Francois Hollande, who approved the deal when he was in office, triggered a political storm in India after he said the Indian government influenced the choice of a local partner in the deal.
New Delhi has denied the allegations, but opposition parties are gunning for Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 2016 purchase of 36 Rafale planes estimated to be worth $8.7 billion, saying he overpaid for the planes and had not been transparent.
Under Indian defense procurement rules, a foreign firm must invest at least 30 percent of the contract in India to help it build up its manufacturing base and wean off imports.
The French foreign ministry had said that French authorities were not involved in the choice of Indian industrial partners involved in the Rafale deal.
The Rafale planes were picked from a field that included Lockheed Martin’s F-16, Saab’s Gripen, the Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the Russian MiG-35.
