New Delhi: French aviation major Dassault Aviation has been asked to submit its bid for 114 Rafale fighters by the end of April. At least 96 of the fighters will be built in India.
Last month, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, approved the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) plan to procure 114 Rafale fighters. The project is valued at a minimum of Rs 2.5 lakh crore, the price projected by the IAF as part of the Acceptance of Necessity (AON) granted to it.
Sources in the defence and security establishment said Dassault Aviation has been asked to submit its bid detailing various aspects of the deal including the Make in India component and the cost.
Following this, a cost negotiation committee with representatives from the defence ministry and the IAF will be set up.
Sources explained that the French side will include representatives from Dassault and the French government because this will be a government-to-government deal.
Sources further said that unlike in 2016—when the talks were primarily led by the French government—this time, Dassault Aviation will also be part of discussions as they will set up a final assembly line.
An analysis of the IAF proposal, sources said, shows that the true Make in India component is much lesser than expected, therefore negotiations will focus on increasing that component.
French President Emmanuel Macron, while interacting with the media during his visit to India last week, had made it clear that the French will do whatever is necessary to meet Indian requirements.
The Indian side is looking for at least 50-60 percent indigenous content in the Rafale fighters.
The whole process is likely to be completed by the end of this financial year and a contract should be signed by the end of the next fiscal year (March 2027).
If the deal is signed in early 2027, delivery of the first 18 aircraft in fly-away condition will start from 2030 onwards.
It is learnt that the final assembly line for the Rafales will be set up at the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited’s (DRAL’s) Nagpur facility, which is now a subsidiary of Dassault Aviation that manufactures the fighter.
In September last year, Dassault Aviation acquired the majority stake in the joint venture.
It is believed that the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group could sell its minority stake to another Indian company, after which DRAL would be renamed if the plans proceed.
Multiple Indian companies like TATA, Mahindra, Dynamatic Technologies Limited, along with over three dozen other firms are expected to be part of the Rafale project. TATA has already been contracted to manufacture the fuselage for the Rafale which will go into foreign orders at this time.
It is also learnt that the Final Assembly Line (FAL) will eventually cater to Rafale’s global demand and will act as the second manufacturing hub of the French aviation major.
ThePrint was the first to report in April 2025 that the Indian government had decided to go for 114 Rafales for the IAF and the formal process would start later that year.
In the second half of 2025, the IAF formally moved a proposal to acquire the Rafale, following which discussions took place at the defence ministry and government-to-government levels.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)