by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
NEW DELHI, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- India's Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said in a report to the parliament on Wednesday that the Rafale fighter jet deal signed in 2016 by Narendra Modi government was 2.86 percent cheaper than the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) deal in 2007.
The much-awaited CAG report on Rafale defence deal was tabled in Upper House of Indian parliament locally called Rajya Sabha.
"The report does not disclose the actual price (as the Defence Ministry maintained that these details could not be revealed) of the 36 Rafale fighter jets contracted by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. However, it includes examination of the pricing," an official said.
"The government saved 17.08 percent money on the contract for procurement of 36 Rafale aircraft from France as compared to the previous UPA dispensation deal for 126 fighter jets," the official said.
The report was tabled even as Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi staged protest outside the parliament.
The Congress and other opposition parties have dismissed the report as biased because auditor Rajiv Mehrishi was finance secretary when the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets was inked in 2016. The Congress alleged Mehrishi was "complicit in the irregularities" in the Rafale deal.
Senior BJP leader and finance minister Arun Jaitley took to Twitter to attack Congress and other opposition parties.
"The lies of the Mahajhootbandhan stand exposed by the CAG report. It cannot be that the Supreme Court is wrong, the CAG is wrong and only the dynast is right," Jaitley tweeted.
The CAG report details emerged as a report in local daily The Hindu said on Wednesday that at least three senior Defence Ministry officials among the seven-member Indian negotiating team were of the view that the final price offered by the French government cannot be considered as "better terms" compared to the deal under the UPA.
India signed a deal with France for purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets in 2016 in a bid to bolster the country's military image.
Congress and other opposition parties alleged the BJP has indulged in a gross corruption while finalizing the deal and demand a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the matter.
