Modi government paying Rs 1,100 crore more for each Rafale jet, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed that Narendra Modi-led NDA government was paying Rs 1,100 crore more for purchasing each Rafale jet than the previous UPA government even as the Army "begs" for money.

Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said the French company Dassault Aviation, makers of the Rafale fighter jets, has exposed the “lie” of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman by releasing the prices of the deal.

“Dassault called RM's lie and released prices paid per RAFALE plane in report:  Qatar = 1319 Cr, MODI = 1670 Cr, MMS (Manmohan Singh) =   570 Cr. 1100 Cr per plane or 36,000 Cr i.e 10 % of our Defence budget, in the pocket,” Rahul tweeted and shared screen shots of Dassault Aviation’s Annual Report 2016.

Dassault called RM's lie and released prices paid per RAFALE plane in report:

Qatar = 1319 Cr
MODI = 1670 Cr
MMS = 570 Cr

1100 Cr per plane or 36,000 Cr i.e 10 % of our Defence budget, in the pocket.

Meanwhile, our Army begs our Govt. for money. pic.twitter.com/fE5tj4IaeN

— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) March 16, 2018

The Congress has been campaigning against the National Democratic Alliance government over the Rs 58,000 crore deal to buy 36 fighter jets from France.

The party claims that Modi government is purchasing Rafale aircraft at much higher rates than what was decided under the previous UPA government.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had alleged a scam in the procurement of the jets and asked the Modi government to reveal the price break up of each Rafale aircraft.

However, the government refused to reveal the prices citing confidentiality provisions of a 2008 Indo-France pact.