By Ajai
Shukla
Business Standard, 1st Jan 2015
For the
first time since January 31, 2012, when the French Rafale fighter was chosen as
the future medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force
(IAF), a top Indian official has admitted serious problems in negotiating the
purchase with French vendor, Dassault.
Speaking to
the media on Tuesday evening, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said there were
“complications” in the negotiations that have already dragged on for almost
three years, with the French side reluctant to meet commitments that the IAF
had specified in the tender.
Parrikar
did not reveal details. Business Standard has reported earlier on Dassault’s
unwillingness to assume responsibility for the production of Rafales by
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, which the tender mandated. HAL is to build 108 Rafales
in India with technology transferred from Dassault and its sub-vendors.
Ominously
for Dassault, Parrikar said that additional Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, which HAL
builds in Nashik, were adequate for the IAF in case it was decided not to
procure the Rafale.
The IAF currently
plans to have 272 Su-30MKI fighters by about 2018. HAL’s Nashik production line
is building the fighter at Rs 358 crore each, less than half the estimated cost
of buying the Rafale.
“The
Su-30MKI is an adequate aircraft for meeting the air force’s needs”, said
Parrikar.
Earlier
this month, Parrikar had assured his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian,
during the latter’s visit to New Delhi on December 1, that Rafale negotiations
would be placed on a “fast track”, according to MoD officials.
The defence
minister revealed on Tuesday that the French defence minister “has (committed) to
send an empowered person to negotiate after New Year.”
According
to the terms of the MMRCA tender, 18 of the 126 fighters being bought would be
supplied fully built abroad, with the remaining 108 manufactured by HAL. The
cost of the project, originally sanctioned at Rs 42,000 crore, has now crossed
Rs 100,000 crore, according to expert estimates.
Border infrastructure
Signalling
a major thrust on building roads along the 4,057-kilometre Line of Actual Control
(LAC) between India and China, the defence minister announced that the Border
Roads Organisation (BRO), which has been plagued by infighting between its
civil and military personnel, would come directly under the MoD.
“BRO is
being delinked from the Ministry of Surface Transport. It will be entirely defence
controlled and defence financed. We are (also) considering transferring of more
than 6,000-7,000 kilometres of roads, which are not in sensitive areas, to the National
Highways (Authority of India)”, said Parrikar.
Weighing in
against the principle of “dual command”, the defence minister said: “Ministry
of Surface Transport was their (BRO’s) administrative department and defence
was their [operational department]. So obviously there was confusion, when you
have two masters, you don’t get work output.”
Parrikar
confirmed that the proposal had been discussed with Minister for Surface
Transport, Nitin Gadkari, and both had agreed that, from the next budget
onwards, BRO would come under the MoD.
The BRO was
charged with building 61 Indo-China Border Roads (ICBRs), of total length 3410
kilometres, by 2012. Of these, it has
completed only 17 roads, of length 590 kilometres, the defence minister told
parliament on December 12.
Parrikar
explained that high technology, especially the practice of tunnelling with rock
boring machines, was essential for building roads in difficult terrain, for
which the private sector needed to be involved. “The way it is being cut today,
I don’t think we will complete (our target) even in 15 years. If the target is
5 years, we will have to use technology”, he said.
The defence
minister also revealed that he was working with the railways minister, Suresh
Prabhu, to expand rail connectivity across Arunachal Pradesh. “We have decided
to improve the railway connectivity as well as the road connectivity. We will
finalise things in the days ahead”, he said.
The defence
minister told parliament on December 12 that four strategic railway lines have
been prioritised for survey.
Arms agents permitted
Parrikar reiterated
his intention to permit foreign arms companies to station “representatives or
technical consultants” in India, reversing a ban on “agents” that had been
imposed after the Bofors gun scandal of 1987-88. This had been reported earlier
by Business Standard (December 13, “Parrikar
likely to allow arms agents, impose steep fines for wrongdoing”).
The defence
minister downplayed reports of increased Pakistani firing on the Line of
Control (LoC), stating, “Across the LoC, (firing) incidents have reduced during
2014. There were increasing incidents on the International Border, but they
have also fallen during the last two months compared to this time last year.”
Even so,
Parrikar emphasised the army’s muscular posture, saying his orders were” “Don’t
hesitate; react appropriately and without holding yourself back. We don’t (start
firing). But if there is something going on from the other side we retaliate
with double the energy.”
[ENDS]