India ink Rs 3.25 lakh crore worth deal with France for 114 Rafale jets; Macron to visit New Delhi next month

NEW DELHI: India and France have agreed to a deal for 114 modified Rafale F-4 Star fighter jets for the Indian Air Force. The deal is worth Rs 3.25 lakh crore.

An official announcement is likely to be made when French President Emmanuel Macron visits India next month.

The aircraft will be delivered from 2030. 24 aircraft will be manufactured in France and brought to India. The remaining 90 will be manufactured at the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) plant in Nagpur with 60 per cent indigenous components. The ones manufactured in France will be the F5 version with state-of-the-art facilities. There is also an agreement to upgrade the F3-R series currently in service to the F4 version. If the deal is signed in 2027, the first 18 aircraft will arrive in India from 2030.

Currently, 36 Rafale aircraft are deployed in the Air Force. An order has been placed for 26 Rafale Marine aircraft for the Navy.