Ahead of PM Modi's cisit to France on the occasion of Bastille Day, India is finalising the ground work for firming up procurement of 26 Naval variant of Rafale jets and three Scorpene submarines from France, sources said.
It has also been reported that the two nations are also inching closer to ink a deal under which French defence major Safran and an Indian entity will jointly develop an aircraft engine in India.
All about the procurement deal
As per media reports, Defence Procurement Board (DPB) of the Ministry of Defence cleared the proposals and they will be taken up soon by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
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People associated with the process said India and France may announce the big-ticket defence projects during Modi's visit to France.
It has also been speculated that some of the defence procurement projects may be announced this week,
They, however, said that some issues are yet to be thrashed out.
Rafale's naval version for Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is expecting procurement of 26 deck-based fighter jets, the Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet and French aerospace major Dassault Aviation's Rafale-M aircraft for the indigenously-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
It is learnt that Rafale-M emerged as the winner in the tight race.
India so far has already procured 36 Rafale jets from France for the Indian Air Force which were known to be India's first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.
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Another important project with France is likely to be a follow on order of three Scorpene submarines.
Under Project 75, six Scorpene submarines have already been made in India.
The French side and its partner Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) are now looking at an additional order of three more Scorpene submarines, the people said.
The defence ministry is in talks with French defence major Safran for joint development of a fighter jet engine in India to power the country's next generation aircraft including the futuristic Advance Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
