In what can be seen as an open response to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Dassault CEO Eric Trappier on Tuesday said that he "did not lie" regarding signing of 36 Rafale fighter jets with the Indian government. "I don't lie. The truth I declared before and the statements I made are true. I don't have a reputation of lying. In my position as CEO, you don't lie," said Trappier in an interview given to news agency ANI. Gandhi had accused Dassault CEO of lying to protect Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Trappier further clarified that it was Dassault Aviation itself that had chosen Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence's as its offset partner. "We chose Ambani by ourselves. We already have 30 partners other than Reliance. The IAF is supporting the deal because they need the fighter jets for their own defence to be at the top," said Trappier. Earlier, a French media report had quoted former French president Francois Hollande as saying, "we did not have a say in this...the Indian government proposed this service group and Dassault negotiated with (Anil) Ambani group. We did not have a choice, we took the partner who was given to us."
Following Hollande's statement, a report by French investigative journal Mediapart had on October 10 reported that they have accessed the internal document of Dassault Aviation, which mentioned that chosing Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence as the offset partner in India was “imperative and mandatory” for the deal.
However, Dassault Aviation had soon come forward to trash the claims by Mediapart. "Dassault Aviation has freely chosen to make a partnership with India’s Reliance Group. This joint-venture, Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL), was created February 10, 2017," Dassault Aviation had stated in a press release on October 11.
Regarding the pricing of the 36 Rafale jets, Trappier said the final deal was signed at a discount of nine per cent. "Price of 36 was exactly the same when you compare with 18 flyaway. 36 is the double of 18. So, as far as I was concerned, it should have been double the price. But because it was government to government, there was negotiation. I had to decrease price by nine per cent," Trappier clarified in the interview.
He added that contrary to reports, the money was going into the Dassault-Reliance Joint Venture and not into Reliance alone. "When we created the JV last year, decision of creating a JV was part of our agreement in 2012, but we waited for contract to be signed. We are supposed to put in this company together about Rs 800 crore as 50:50. Shares in the JV are 49 per cent for Dassault and 51 per cent for Reliance."
Trappier said that Dassault Aviation has already put in Rs 40 crore to pay employees. This would be increased to Rs 800 crore by both Dassault and Reliance, each shelling out Rs 400 crore. "We have seven years to perform our offset. During the first three years, we are not obliged to say with who we are working. (We have) already settled agreement with 30 companies, which represents 40 per cent of total offset obligation as per contract. Reliance is 10 per cent of the 40 per cent," Trappier explained.
On the political slugfest surrounding the Rafale deal, Trappier said such controversies happen in many countries. "Dassault has long experience with the Congress. Our first deal was with India in 1953 during Nehru's term. We are not working for any party, we are supplying strategic products to the IAF and Indian government. That’s what is most important," Trappier added.
Trappier also said that the first delivery Rafale jets to the IAF was going to take place in September, 2019, as per the contract. "It is totally in time," he assured.
