New Delhi: France’s outreach to India has picked up pace during President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day visit that began on February 17. He is in India to attend the AI Impact Summit that began on February 16 in New Delhi. Strategic talks during the visit are also moving forward on a major defence deal under which India plans to buy 114 Rafale fighter jets for the armed forces. The aircraft are expected to be delivered by 2030.
New Delhi is preparing to allocate nearly Rs 3.25 lakh crore for the acquisition. By overall value, the agreement is set to become the largest defence purchase in the country’s history. The size of the deal has been compared with Indonesia’s earlier Rafale purchase. In 2022, Jakarta bought 42 jets from French company Dassault Aviation under the government led by Prabowo Subianto.
Indonesia’s Rafale deal cost $8.1 billion (around Rs 68,000 crore). Each jet worked out to about Rs 1,747 crore. In India’s deal, each aircraft will cost roughly Rs 2,850 crore. The difference in price has led to questions about why India is paying more for the same jets.
The higher cost of India’s Rafales is explained by what the deal includes. Each aircraft comes with advanced weapons like Meteor and Scalp missiles along with Hammer precision-guided munitions. The acquisition also includes full-mission simulators for training, long-term maintenance, spare parts and technology transfer. The deal covers the aircraft’s full lifecycle, which makes the overall package more valuable over time.
Manufacturing plans form a central pillar of the arrangement. India had earlier inducted 36 Rafale fighters under the 2016 agreement. A naval variant order followed, adding aircraft for deployment aboard INS Vikrant. The Indian Air Force (IAF) presently operates 36 Rafales, while the Navy fields 26 for carrier operations. Under the new proposal, 96 jets are slated for production in Nagpur at the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited facility. The remaining 18 aircraft will be built in France. All Rafales presently in Indian service were manufactured in France. With the new acquisitions, India’s fleet strength is projected to rise to 176 aircraft between 2030 and 2035.
The need to expand its forces is why India is buying more Rafales. At present, the IAF operates 29 fighter squadrons, but its assessed requirement stands at 42 squadrons. Each squadron has 16-18 fighter jets. The new Rafales will help close this gap and strengthen readiness across different regions.
