Rafale deal: French Defence Minister to arrive on Sep 22

French Defence Minister Jean Yves Le Drian is set to arrive here on September 22 along with CEOs of Dassault Aviation, Thales and MBDA to seal the 7.87 billion Euros deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets.

Defence sources said if all goes well, the Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) will be signed on September 23.

Government sources said the cost, offsets and service details have been finalised and work is currently being done on the IGA.

A “working team” from France is already in town with their own translators are going through the contract, running into several thousand pages, with their Indian counterparts.

The sources said that once the IGA is firmed up, the document will go to the Cabinet Committee on Security for final clearance.

The French Defence Minister will be arriving on the evening of September 22 along with CEOs of companies involved in the Rafale project, sources involved in the deal said.

India has been able to save over Euro 590 million through tough price negotiations which began in January this year.