The much awaited Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on Rafale deal came as a mixed bag for the ruling BJP and the opposition. While the BJP claimed the report has strengthened the deal removing all shadows of doubt, the Congress rubbished the document, calling it an eyewash.
In one of the key findings, the report said the aircraft deal was 2.86 per cent cheaper than what was being negotiated by the previous UPA government. However, it rejected the Narendra Modi government's claim that the contracted price of 36 basic flyaway aircraft was nine per cent lower than one offered in 2007.
The government was quick to claim that its stands has been endorsed first by the Supreme Court and now by the CAG.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rahul Gandhi's "lies" have been exposed by the CAG report and demanded an apology from the Congress president.
“The quality and the weaponry of Rafale are not in doubt. The country's compelling need to have fighter aircraft is not in doubt. The process has been examined by the SC and the CAG, and found to be correct. The price is lower than that of the UPA,” Prasad said during a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.
The Congress, however, continued to pick holes in the deal. “PM Modi, Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) and Defence Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) reiterated in Parliament that the NDA-Modi purchase was 9-20 per cent cheaper than the UPA's,” the Congress said in a statement.
“Even the CAG report has demolished it by stating [clause (c), page 130 of the CAG Report] that the aircraft are cheaper by 2.86 per cent,” the statement added.
Rahul termed the report as a cover up. “It ignores the cost of the missing bank guarantee and glosses over the suspect costs for 'India Specific Enhancements'. But even the CAG couldn't hide that it may take upto 10 years for the 36 Rafale jets to be delivered,” he tweeted.
The Congress leader also charged that the 'India Specific Enhancements' for 36 Rafale aircraft is same as 126 aircraft. “€25mn per aircraft is the excess amount paid in the new deal to make the same enhancements. That is exactly where the corruption has taken place,” he said.
Rahul further alleged that the only reason for the new deal is to give Rs 30,000 crore to industrialist Anil Ambani.
Union Minister Arun Jaitley rubbished Congress claims. “It cannot be that the Supreme Court is wrong, the CAG is wrong and only the dynast is right...How does democracy punish those who consistently lied to the nation?,” Jaitley said referring to the Congress charges.
The CAG report said the delivery schedule worked out under the 2016 deal was better than the one offered during the 2007 deal (under the UPA).
Despite the CAG report giving immediate cheer to the government side, it has also raised a few points which the opposition could use to target the deal. The Congress argued that Dassault Aviation has an order backlog of 83 aircraft and can only manufacture 11 aircraft in a year. The CAG also notes that clearing the backlog will take 7-8 years.
The CAG report has also listed the drawbacks of having a 'letter of comfort' instead of a sovereign guarantee from the French.
The report said the previous deal for 126 jets negotiated in 2007 included a 15 per cent bank guarantee against advance payments. But the 2016 deal says if there is a breach of agreement, India has to first settle the matter through arbitration with the French vendors—in this case Dassault.
The Congress termed this as “seriously jeopardising India’s national interest.”
Other opposition parties, too, were critical of the CAG report.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati dismissed the report as "neither complete nor fully correct" and alleged that constitutional bodies were not been able to work with full honesty.
Aam Aadmi Party leader leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Modi should speak the truth on the agreement between India and France.
The NCP also questioned the CAG report's "authenticity".
With inputs from PTI
