On Thursday, the defence ministry approved the proposed purchase of 26 Naval variant Rafale fighters from France.
On the same day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a two-day visit to Paris, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the project.
The DAC, the defence ministry’s highest procurement decision-making committee, also approved a request to build three more Scorpene submarines in India.
The big defence projects are expected to be revealed when Prime Minister Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron meet in Paris on Friday.
The projects were approved by the DAC about a week after they were vetted by the Defence Procurement Board (DPB).
The Indian Navy is planning to buy 26 deck-based fighter jets for the INS Vikrant, an indigenously built aircraft carrier.
After a lengthy selection process, the Navy chose Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and Dassault Aviation’s Rafale M aircraft for procurement.
Later, Rafale-M, the navy derivative of the devastating jet, emerged as the race victor. The Indian Air Force has already purchased 36 Rafale fighters from France.
The Rafale fighters are India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years, following the import of Sukhoi jets from Russia.
Another significant initiative with France would be the subsequent purchase of three Scorpene submarines.
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