New Delhi, September 17: In the latest development, the Congress is likely to approach the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) over the Rafale deal. The opposition party has been attacking the Modi government, alleging that the deal had caused a loss of Rs 41,000 crore to the exchequer compared to the price negotiated by the Congress-led UPA government. However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley refuted the charges of the Congress. He termed the allegations a ‘kindergarten debate’.

The Congress is attacking the government for paying around Rs 1,600 core for each fighter jet as compared to Rs 500 crore (approx.) negotiated by the previous UPA government. In an interview to news Agency ANI, Jaitley claimed that the basic aircraft price turns out to be 9% cheaper. The finance minister said, “What was negotiated from 2015 to 2016 and finally executed in 2016, with the escalations and the currency variations, the basic aircraft price turns out to be 9% cheaper."

The Congress is also targeting the Centre for giving offset-deal to newly created private sector company Reliance Defence owned by Anil Ambani instead of Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL). During the debate on the ‘no-confidence’ motion in the parliament in July, Congress President Rahul Gandhi alleged corruption in the deal. He claimed that French President Emanual Macron in a meeting told him that there was no secrecy clause in the deal. However, just a few hours later, The French government denied his claims.

Initially, the UPA government signed a deal of USD 12 billion which amounts to Rs 78,000 crore (approx.) for acquiring 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), Rafale Fighter jets. Out of these 126 jets, 18 were to be procured in ‘ready to fly’ condition and rest were to be produced in India in partnership with HAL. As the UPA failed to conclude the deal before the 2014 elections, the Modi government after coming to power scrapped the old deal. The government signed a new contract in 2016, worth Rs 59,000 to acquire 36 jets in ready to fly condition.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 17, 2018 05:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).