By A Correspondent

New Delhi: India has asked French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation to submit its bids with Rafales for the air force’s requirement for 114 combat aircraft, a proposal that was approved by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) earlier this month.

Valued at INR 250,000 crore during the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) stage of the proposal approved by the DAC, the plan included manufacturing 96 Rafales at the Dassault-Reliance Aerospace Limited’s (DRAL) joint venture assembly line near Nagpur, which is now a subsidiary of the French firm after it raised its stakes to 51% in September 2025.

While the first 18 of the Rafale under the procurement would come as a fly-away platform directly from the Dassault Aviation facility in Europe, India has pressed for an increased indigenous content in the ‘Make in India’ Rafales, including weapons package, according to Defence Ministry officials aware of the matter.

Indian media reports suggested that Dassault Aviation was asked to submit its detailed bids for the project, including the indigenous content, both in qualitative and quantitative terms, apart from the commercial offer including costs. India is said to be insisting on about 50% to 60% indigenisation of the Rafales to be assembled in India.

The company’s bids are to be considered by a Cost Negotiation Committee comprising representatives from the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Indian Air Force (IAF), and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which will also negotiate the final terms of the contract.

The French side in the negotiations would have representatives from Dassault Aviation and the French government, as the contract is likely to be a government-to-government deal, just like the 2016 contract for 36 Rafales bought off the shelf to shore up the Indian combat squadron numbers due to the emergency situation then.

However, unlike 2016 contract negotiations, when the French government led the talks, Dassault Aviation would lead the discussions this time on the contract terms as the company would be setting up the Final Assembly Line in India, according to the reports.

While the IAF proposal for the 114 jets is said to have a lesser quantum of indigenisation of the Rafales, the contract negotiations is seen as an opportunity for increasing the localisation efforts for the aircraft assembly in India.

India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had earlier this month told his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin that India expected an increased indigenisation on the Rafales, including weapons package.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in his media interaction during his India visit earlier this month, had assured that his nation would do anything required by India.

The Indian side is targeting completion of the contract negotiation by the end of March 2026 to be able to sign the deal for Rafales by the end of the next fiscal in March 2027.

When the deal is signed, India would have to pay 15% of the cost of the contract to Dassalt Aviation as down payment, and the rest of the amount would be paid in phases as the contract terms are met.

Once the deal is signed, say in early 2027, the first of the 18 off-the-shelf Rafales would be delivered to the IAF beginning 2030, the officials cited above said.

At the Nagpur facility, Dassault Aviation would assemble the 96 Rafales, as the joint venture with Reliance is already manufacturing several systems for both the combat jets and the Falcon civilian aircraft.

It is learned the Anil Ambani-led Ambani Group is likely to sell of its minority stake to another Indian company after which the DRAL would be renamed to reflect the change in ownership.

Already, several Indian companies such as the Tata Advanced Systems, Mahindra Group, Dynamatic Technologies Limited, and another dozen firms have joined the Rafale aicraft indigenisation effort, with the Tata already contracted to make the combat jet’s fuselage that go into all the Dassault Aviation’s Rafales.

The Rafale facility in India would primarily meet the Indian requirements, though the systems made here would also go into the Dassault Aviation’s Rafales for the global market, thus acting as the second Rafale manufacturing facility for the world.

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