Article Posted on : - Dec 10, 2012

NEW DELHI (PTI): After bagging the multi-billion dollar deal for supplying 126 Rafale fighter aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF), French firm Dassault Aviation has asked the Defence Ministry to define the role of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in the project.

If the contract is finalised, the first 18 aircraft would be supplied by Dassault directly to the IAF and the remaining 108 would be licence-produced at HAL facilities in Bangalore.

The French Dassault has asked the Ministry to define the role of the premier Indian aerospace company in the final delivery of the 108 aircraft to be produced in India, industry sources told PTI here.

As per the IAF tender issued for the project, the primary role of integration and supply of these aircraft would be of the HAL, which is successfully working on several important fighter aircraft programmes such as the Su-30MKI project.

The French company has told the Defence Ministry that if it is given the overall responsibility for the project, it should be given the freedom to decide on the proportion of work to be done by HAL and private companies in the programme, the sources said.

In that case, the firm would determine the role of the defence and security wing of a new Indian defence company in the project and a major share of work would be given to it, they said.

Soon after Dassault was declared as the lowest bidder for the MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) deal piping EAD's Eurofighter, it signed a MoU with a Reliance Industries Ltd. company for working together in the security sector.

It is currently negotiating the deal with the Defence Ministry and the IAF.

For completing the Indian project, Dassault has also opened an Indian subsidiary company here. The company named Dassault Aircraft Services India Private Limited (DASIPL) was set up recently and it is 100 per cent owned by its French parent company, the sources said.