Thales and Reliance Defence Limited (RDL) on Wednesday announced their decision to form a joint venture (JV) to execute part of the offset obligations for the 36 Rafale fighter jets India has contracted from France.
“Leveraging Thales offset commitment as part of the Rafale Contract, the JV is to develop Indian capabilities to integrate and maintain the Radar and Electronic Warfare sensors,” RDL said in a statement.
The agreement was signed by Patrice Caine, chairman and CEO of Thales, and Anil Ambani, chairman, Reliance Group, at the on-going Paris Air Show. Last September, India and France signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for 36 Rafale multirole jets in fly-away condition worth about ₹59,000 crore.
The deal has a 50% offset clause to be executed in India by Dassault and its partners, Thales, MBDA and Safran for about ₹30,000 crore.
