Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier Denies Scandal With Rafale Deal, Says ‘Will Deliver 36 Aircraft’

On February 13, the government had tabled the CAG report on the Rafale deal in the Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi: Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier on Wednesday said that there is no scandal with the Rafale deal, news agency ANI reported. Talking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said, “We had the request for 36 aircraft and we are going to deliver it. If the Government of India wants more aircraft, we will be more than pleased to deliver.”

The Rs 59,000-crore deal has generated a massive political controversy in the last few months, with the Congress alleging that corruption and impropriety, and the ruling dispensation defending the move.

Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier: There is no scandal with #Rafale, we had the request for 36 aircraft and we are going to deliver it. If Government of India wants more aircraft, we will be more than pleased to deliver. pic.twitter.com/Y3bdvHmTGF

— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2019

On February 13, the government had tabled the CAG report on the Rafale deal in the Rajya Sabha, which said that the deal signed by the Modi government to procure 36 fighter jets from France’s Dassault got 2.86 per cent cheaper price than what was negotiated during the previous UPA regime in 2007. (ALSO READ: Not In-Charge When Rafale Deal Was Inked, Says French President Emmanuel Macron)

Eric further said, “We are more than proud to show today in our stand what we have produced in Nagpur, the first Falcon 2000 cockpit manufactured under the ‘Make in India’ policy in one year.”

The Rafale issue was even raised before the Supreme Court, which did not find any substance in the allegations.

However, the issue has continued to rock Parliament with Congress President Rahul Gandhi directly accusing the Prime Minister of benefiting industrialist Anil Ambani.

The multi-billion dollar deal was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 when Francois Hollande was the President of France. The Rafale fights jets are scheduled to be delivered from September 2019.