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The French firm was declared as the lowest bidder, according to which it will get the contract under India's defence procurement procedure, sources said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
"The
French firm Dassault Rafale has emerged as the L-1 (lowest bidder) and
cheaper than its European rival EADS (maker of Eurofighter) in the
tender and will be offered to supply the aircraft to the IAF," the
source said.
They said the representatives of Dassault in New Delhi
were informed about the development in the morning and further
negotiations on price will be held with them in the next 10-15 days.
The contract will be signed only in the next fiscal. Government has in 2007 earmarked Rs 42,000 crore for the deal.
According
to the Request for Proposal (RFP), the winner of the contract will have
to supply 18 of the 126 aircraft to the IAF in 36 months from its
facilities and the remaining would be produced at HAL facilities in Bangalore.
Six
companies, including American F-16 and F-18, Russian MiG 35, Swedish
Saab Gripen along with Eurofighter and Dassault Rafale, were in the race
in the beginning.
But in April last year, the Defence Ministry shortlisted Dassault and EADS, rejecting the American, Russian and Swedish bids.
The
process was started with the issuing of a global tender in 2007, after
which all the six contenders were subjected to extensive field
evaluation trials by the Indian Air Force at several locations across
the globe.
The bids of the two companies were opened by the IAF on 4th November last year and arrived at the lowest bidder after calculating the life cycle cost of the aircraft.
Sarkozy happy with Rafale selection by India
France said President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed happiness at India's
selection of the French fighter aircraft Rafale for acquisition by
Indian Air Force and said negotiations for the contract would begin very
soon.
"The President of the French Republic has learned of Indias selection of the Rafale for the acquisition by the Indian Air Force of 126 fighter aircrafts. France
is pleased with Indian governments decision to select the French
aircraft to enter into exclusive negotiations with Dassault," said a
statement issued by the French Embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday.
It
said the announcement comes at the end of a very high-level, fair and
transparent competition involving two European finalists for the bid.
The
statement said "negotiations for the contract will begin very soon and
has the full support of the French authorities. It will include
important technology transfers guaranteed by the French government.
"Rafale
has been selected, thanks to the aircrafts competitive life-cycle
costs, after the April 2011 pre-selection on the basis of its top-level
operational performance", it added.
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