New Delhi: India has cleared a proposal worth Rs 3.25 lakh crore to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF), marking the country’s largest-ever defence acquisition, according to media reports.
The approval was granted by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, which accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to the programme ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron’s upcoming visit to New Delhi.
Under the proposed deal, 18 of the 114 aircraft will be acquired off-the-shelf from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, while the remaining 96 jets will be manufactured in India through a strategic partnership model. The agreement is expected to include the transfer of advanced fighter aircraft technology, aligning with the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative in the defence sector.
The proposal will now be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for final approval.
The Rafale acquisition forms part of broader approvals totalling around Rs 3.60 lakh crore cleared by the DAC for the armed forces. For the IAF, AoN was also granted for advanced combat missiles to strengthen long-range precision strike capabilities, and for an Air-Ship Based High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (AS-HAPS) platform designed to provide persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), electronic intelligence, telecommunications and remote sensing support.
The Multi Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme, under which the Rafale jets have been selected, is aimed at enhancing the IAF’s air dominance capabilities across the full spectrum of conflict.
For the Army, the council cleared procurement of Vibhav anti-tank mines to be integrated into anti-tank obstacle systems for countering advancing mechanised forces. The Navy received AoN under the Make-I category of the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 for a 4 MW Marine Gas Turbine-based Electric Power Generator.
The DAC also approved the acquisition of additional P-8I Poseidon long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft to bolster anti-submarine warfare, maritime surveillance and strike capabilities.
For the Indian Coast Guard, approval was granted for Electro-Optical and Infra-Red systems for Dornier aircraft to enhance maritime domain awareness.
The IAF currently operates 36 Rafale aircraft across two squadrons, with the final delivery of the ‘C’ variant completed in December 2024. Separately, India has ordered 26 Rafale ‘M’ naval variants for the Indian Navy in a Rs 63,000 crore deal. These aircraft will operate from aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya, with provisions for maintenance, logistics support and training under a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul framework.
