New Delhi, December 28: Days after the Supreme Court dismissed petitions seeking a probe into Rafale deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government has made 25 per cent of payment to the French government in the more than Rs 59,000 crore deal for procuring 36 fighter planes, top Air Force sources told news agency ANI on Thursday.

"More than 25 per cent of the payments have been made to the French government for the deal as part of the contractual terms and conditions of the project. The amount of the payment is being paid to the French government as the contract is government to government,” ANI quoted the sources as saying. The Rafale deal was signed at Euro 7.9 billion, which was approximately equivalent to Rs 59,000 crore.

Notwithstanding the ongoing controversy around the Rafale deal, the first aircraft would be delivered as per schedule to the Air Force by September 2019, while the first batch of the four aircraft with advanced avionics and sensors other than the French Rafales would be delivered by the middle of 2020, the sources added. Uddhav Thackeray Targets Centre Over Rafale Deal Row, 'You do Scams in Purchase of Arms and Ammunition'.

Under the Rafale deal, signed by the Modi government in September 2016, France-based Dassault aviation will develop 36 planes with Indian requirements and specifications and deliver to Air Force.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been targeting the Modi government over the Rafale deal with France and asking why a 70-year-old defence public sector company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) was ignored for manufacturing the fighter jet.

Gandhi has also questioned how the cost of one aircraft, which was Rs 540 crore when the UPA government had signed the deal, rose to thrice its value to Rs 1,600 crore under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre.

The governments of India and France, as also the supplier company Dassault, have been dismissing the Congress allegations. The Air Force too has been defending the contract. The IAF urgently requires the Rafale fighters as it is facing a shortage of combat planes.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 28, 2018 08:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).