Def Ministry imposes fine on MBDA for delay in fulfilling offset obligations under Rafale deal \
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Def Ministry imposes fine on MBDA for delay in fulfilling offset obligations under Rafale deal

22-Dec-2021
New Delhi Dec 22 PTI The defence ministry has imposed a fine of less than 1 million euros on European missile maker MBDA for delay in fulfilling its offset obligations under the Rafale aircraft deal sources said on WednesdayFrench aerospace major Dassault Aviation is the manufacturer of the Rafale jets while MBDA supplies the missile systems for the aircraftIndia had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 to procure 36 Rafale jets at a cost of Rs 59000 crore and the offset obligations were part of the contractAs a part of the deal 50 per cent of the total contract value has to be reinvested in India as offsets in each year between September 2019 and September 2022The sources said the defence ministry has imposed and collected a fine of less than 1 million euros from MBDA for delaying its offset obligations for the September 2019-September 2020 period MBDA has deposited its penalty but has also lodged its protest with the defence ministry they saidMBDA did not respond to PTIs request for a statement on this matterThe first batch of Rafale fighter aircraft came to India in July last yearThe CAG had in September last year said that Dassault Aviation and MBDA are yet to fulfil their offset obligations of offering high technology to India under the Rafale aircraft deal according to the Comptroller and Auditor Generals report released on WednesdayIn its report tabled in Parliament the national auditor had said that Dassault Aviation and MBDA proposed in September 2015 to discharge 30 per cent of their offset obligations by offering high technology to the Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO but the two firms were yet to do it PTI DSP ANB ANB
22-Dec-2021 National
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