The Scandalous Rafale Deal: Ex-French President Hollande Admits The Role Of Indian Govt For Pushing Reliance Into Offset Deal With Dassault Aviation
In a jarring twist to the controversy around €7.87 billion Rafale deal, the former President of France, Francois Hollande who was responsible for signing the inter-government Rafale deal with India in 2015, has admitted that the name of Reliance Defence was proposed by the Indian government. In an interview published in French publication Mediapart on Friday that his government didn’t have a choice in the selection of Reliance Defence. He further admitted during the interview saying: “It is the Indian government which has proposed this service group and it is Dassault that has negotiated with Anil Ambani. We didn’t have a choice; we took the interlocutor that was given to us.”
In a response to Mr. Hollande’s comments, the ministry of defence tweeted that the report referring to former French President, Mr. Hollande’s statement that GOI insisted upon a particular firm as offset partner for the Dassault aviation in Rafale was being verified. “It is reiterated that neither the Government of India nor the French Government had any say in the commercial decision,” the Ministry said in a tweet.
Recently, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, replying on Reliance Defence being chosen as Dassault’s offset partner, said: “Isn’t that a decision for a commercial enterprise to take on their own? I have nothing to do with it, I have not prompted them, not led him, not told them, I have not instructed them, I have not done any match-making whatsoever, so why am I be worried by what he would tell me? It may be A, B or C, it may be 70 different partners, it may be buying a product, they may be investing, it may be buying a service, so where am I in it? And how can I tell him you can say this and you cannot say that.” Mr. Hollande’s statements completely overturn the remarks of the Indian defence minister and this is going to be a serious affair to the fact Mr. Hollande, then president of France acted as the active facilitator and then as a signatory in an inter-government deal with India.
Responding to the BW Businessworld, the spokesperson of the Embassy of France in India said in a written statement issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “The intergovernmental agreement signed on 23rd September 2016 between the French and Indian governments for supplying India with 36 Rafale aircraft concerns…The French government is in no manner involved in the choice of industrial partners who have been, are being, or will be selected by French companies. In accordance with India’s acquisition procedure, French companies have the full freedom to choose the Indian companies that they consider to be “most relevant”, and then present for the Indian government’s approval…”
The joint venture between Dassault Aviation and Reliance Defence results into forming a new entity called Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) which is located at Mihan in Maharashtra. It is here in the facility the offset obligation will be discharged by manufacturing components of the Falcon 2000series of civil aircrafts. The Rafale offset worth Rs 30,000 Crore was the massive deal secured by Reliance Defence, which placed it at the centre of a major political debate as opposition parties, mainly led by Congress have alleged that undue favours had been granted to Anil Ambani’s firm in this deal. The cause of concern is that Reliance defence has no prior expertise or any prior experience whatsoever in manufacturing components in the field of aviation and this flaunts the very statement in the offset discharge obligation.
Flimsy connection
In 2016, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Entertainment helped producing the French film by financing through Rouge International owned by French actress and then French President’s partner, Julie Gayet in France. The deal was announced on January 24, 2016, about the joint production with Gayet’s production house, Rouse International and two days later, PM Modi and then President Hollande signed the MoU in New Delhi for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets worth Rs. 59,000 crore. Modi government scrapped the previous MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) deal of 126 fighter aircrafts, and instead, opted for 36 Rafale fighter jets in a flyway condition.
French website Mediapart further reported: “One day, the Indians came and the film could be made,” recalled one of the production teams of the film Tout là-haut, co-produced in 2016 by the actress Julie Gayet, the partner of the then French president François Hollande. The film’s budget was 10 million euros, and the Indian funding – initially to be 3 million euros but later reduced to 1.6 million euros – was a lifeline. Though, Mr. Hollande, during the interview, told Mediapart that he was not aware of the announcement of the film with Gayet during his visit to India as he was busy with matters of the state. The film – Tout La-Haut, directed by French actor and film-maker Serge Hazanavicius, was released in France on 20 December 2017 but it was never released in India. And, even despite the significant investment by Reliance Entrainment, it was not attributed publically until it came crashing with a multiplier of facts and statements –none other than ex-French President himself who made a deal on behalf of the French government with India.
