In a sensational disclosure, top French daily Le Monde in a report said that the French government waived dues of over 140 million euros owed by Anil Ambani at the time the deal for 36 Rafale jets was being negotiated in 2015.
The report said “Anil Ambani, a close friend of Prime Minister Modi, benefited from a cancellation of more than 140 million euros in 2015, when Dassault negotiated the sale of Rafale to India”.
The author of the report Julien Bouissou, South Asia correspondent of Le Monde, tweeted that “between February and October 2015, while the French were negotiating the Rafale contract with India, Anil Ambani enjoyed a tax waiver of 143.7 million euros ($162 mn) from the French state. Quite a cozy deal, right?”
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Anil Ambani's company Reliance Atlantic Flag France, a telecom company, owed over 150 million euros to the French government.
Anil Ambani’s newly-formed company Reliance Defence was in October 2016 chosen as a partner to fulfil the offset obligations in the Rafale deal.
In its reaction, Reliance Communications rejected any wrongdoing and said the tax dispute was settled under legal framework which is available for all companies operating in France.
PTI quoted a spokesperson of Reliance Communications as saying the tax demands were "completely unsustainable and illegal" and that the company denied any favouritism or gain from the settlement.
"During the period under consideration by the French Tax Authorities - 2008-2012 i.e. nearly 10 years ago, Flag France had an operating loss of Rs 20 crore (Euro 2.7 million). French tax authorities had raised a tax demand of over Rs 1100 crore for the same period," the official said.
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"As per the French tax settlement process as per law, a mutual settlement agreement was signed to pay Rs 56 crore as a final settlement," he said.
The Opposition has been repeatedly accusing the governent of corruption in the deal. The government has denied any wrong doing.
The defence ministry in a statement termed the news as "totally inaccurate" and a "mischievous attempt to disinform".
"We have seen reports drawing conjectural connection between tax exemption to a private company and procurement of Rafale fighter jets by Government of India. Neither the period of the tax concession nor the subject matter of the concession relate even remotely to the Rafale procurement concluded during the tenure of the present Government. Any connections drawn between the tax issue and the Rafale matter is totally inaccurate, tendentious and is a mischievous attempt to disinform," the statement said.
CPIM leader Sitaram Yechury slammed the government over the deal in tweets.
The Congress too attacked the government over the new revelations.
