Former HAL chief contradicts Sitharaman, says could have built Rafale jets; report

The Hindustan Times has reported on September 20 that T Suvarna Raju, who headed state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited till as recently as September 1, 2018, has said that the Rafale fighter jets could have been built by HAL in India, “had the government managed to close the original negotiations” with Dassault Aviation. “When HAL can build a 25-tonne Sukhoi-30, a fourth-generation fighter jet that forms the mainstay of the air force, from raw material stage, then what are we talking about? We could have definitely done it (built the Rafale fighter jets),” HT quoted Raju as saying.

HAL had actually signed a work-share contract with the French company, the HT further reported Raju as saying. The report added that Raju “questioned why the Union government was not putting out the files in public”.

The report also said:

• Raju insisted that HAL has the ability to make advanced fighter jets and "would have been happy to give a guarantee” for the aircraft it produced
• Raju said HAL had maintained the Mirage-2000 aircraft, manufactured by Rafale maker Dassault Aviation, for the last 20 years
• HAL was also involved in the complex Mirage upgrade programme
• Raju also admitted that HAL may not have been able to build the planes at the desired “cost-per-piece”, one of the reasons why that deal fell through
• The HT article, however, reported that a former chief of the Indian Air Force had said that making the Rafale jet would have been a challenge for HAL

Earlier on September 13, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had claimed that HAL “did not have the required capability to produce” Rafale fighter jets. Congress President Rahul Gandhi reacted to the report, saying Sithararam had been “caught lying again” and must resign. “The RM (Rafale Minister) tasked with defending corruption has been caught lying again. The former HAL Chief, TS Raju, has nailed her lie, that HAL didn’t have the capability to build the Rafale. Her position is untenable and she must resign,” tweeted the Congress President on Thursday.

Sitharaman had also claimed on September 18 that HAL was dropped from the Rafale deal by the UPA government itself as HAL and Dassault Aviation, the French firm that produces Rafale, could not concur on the production terms. However, former Defence Minister in the UPA Government and senior Congress leader AK Antony rejected her charges as "completely false" and accused Sitharaman of trying to tarnish the image of HAL both nationally and internationally.

The Congress party has raised the pressure on the Narendra Modi Government over the controversial Rafale deal, demanding a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Congress communications chief Randeep Singh Surjewala told the media on September 19 that Congress pointed out to the CAG, "discrepancies in the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft. We pointed out how public exchequer has lost ₹41,000 crores. Why the purchase of an aircraft which UPA was buying for ₹526 crores at the rate of ₹1,670 crore by Modi government?” The Congress memorandum to the CAG said that instead of “Public Sector Undertaking, HAL, offset contract worth over ₹30,000 crore and Life Cycle Cost Contract worth approximately ₹1 lakh crore” were "extended to a private entity with zero experience of manufacturing aircrafts”, thus “endangering our National Security apparatus”.

“We pointed out as to how Modi government and Prime Minister Modi is personally responsible for violating the defence procurement procedure. We pointed out as to how HAL which has been selected as the offset partner getting a contract of ₹36,000 crores from Dassault Aviation has been superseded. Although Dassault admitted in its corporate filing in France that HAL is its defence partner and how the company which was formed by Reliance before Prime Minister’s visit to France has been given ₹30,000 crore contracts,” Surjewala has said.

The Supreme Court is also set to hear on October 10 a Public Interest Litigation petition seeking a probe into the Central Government’s purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets.

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