It was Dassault Aviation’s choice to partner with the Reliance group, the French company has clarified as a political firestorm raged in India after former president Francois Hollande’s reported remarks on the multi-billion dollar Rafale jet deal on Friday, reports Hindustan Times.
Hollande was quoted by French website ‘Mediapart’ as saying that the Indian government proposed the name of Anil Ambani’s Reliance group as Dassault Aviation’s offset partner and that France didn’t have a choice. The defence ministry said soon after that neither the Indian nor the French government was involved in the commercial decision. The French government said it was in no manner involved in the choice of Indian industrial partners for the Rafale fighter jet deal, asserting that French companies have the full freedom to select Indian firms for contracts, Hindustan Times reported.
Dassault Aviation said in a statement: “This offsets contract is delivered in compliance with the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 regulations. In this framework, and in accordance with the policy of Make in India, Dassault Aviation has decided to make a partnership with India’s Reliance Group. This is Dassault Aviation’s choice, as CEO Eric Trappier had explained in an interview published in MINT newspaper on April 17, 2018.”
France said in its statement late on Friday night, “The French government is in no manner involved in the choice of Indian 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 partner companies that they consider to be the most relevant, then present for the Indian government’s approval the offsets projects that they wish to execute in India with these local partners so as to fulfil their obligations in this regard”, Hindustan Times reported.
