We are totally against corruption, ready for any probe, says Dassault CEO on Rafale deal

Eric Trappier, the CEO of Dassault Aviation, which has been embroiled in the row over the Rafale deal, has finally broken his silence on the topic in an attempt to clear the air. He has categorically denied all allegations of corruption, crony capitalism and inflated profits on the deal in a recent interview, which might pull the wind out of the Opposition parties' sails.

According to him, Dassault had been in discussions with the "Ambani family" since 2012, so the deal predates Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as former French President Francois Hollande, and is a clean one to boot.

"We stick to the laws of France and laws of India and the law of the contract," Trappier told The Economic Times. "We are totally against corruption. If there is any investigation in France or India, we are not only open to the investigation, [but] it is our duty [to respond]. We will prove there is no corruption."

He also rejected the contention that the Indian side had nudged him to give the offsets to Anil Ambani's Reliance Group. "It has been a long time since we are discussing with Reliance," said the CEO, referring to an agreement it inked with the Mukesh Ambani group to discharge offsets as part of an earlier deal for 126 jets that was being negotiated with the previous UPA regime.

In June 2014, following the regime change at the Centre, the plan to partner with older sibling Mukesh Ambani seemed to fizzle out. "I want to be clear that Dassault is a partner as the Ambanis are a very respectable family," he said, adding that Dassault had already signed deals with 30 companies over the deal.

Trappier also pointed out that Hollande's controversial statements to the French Media last month had already been addressed. "Mr Hollande has himself clarified it by saying that the two partners found themselves on their own. So, he has clarified as there was maybe a misunderstanding in his first declaration," he said.

On September 21, Hollande added fuel to the already-controversial Rafale deal by telling the French media that that his government had not been given any choice in selecting a local partner for Dassault Aviation to fulfil offset obligations of the deal, basically suggesting that it was all done at the behest of New Delhi. The deal was signed with Modi during his term.

This development had caught the government on the backfoot since it has been maintaining it was not officially aware of whom Dassault had selected. Hollande subsequently backtracked and told AFP news in Canada that he did not know whether the company was pressured by the Indian government to work with Reliance and "only Dassault can comment on this".

The Congress has also gone to town alleging that the current regime is paying an inflated price for the Rafale fighter jets manufactured by Dassault, making Ambani's Reliance Defence a key beneficiary at the expense of the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

However, Trappier claimed that India had bagged a better deal for the 36 jets in 2016 compared to what it would have paid for the 18 that the previous government was pursuing as part of the 126-jet deal. "Compared to the same price, India brought down the cost by 9%. Where is the confusion?" he posed, adding that Reliance Defence will get only Rs 850 crore worth of offsets, not Rs 30,000 crore as is being tom-tommed.

"The capital investment in the joint venture is Rs 70 crore. The JV is 51% with Reliance, so we have invested 49% of Rs 70 crore," Trappier clarified. "We will step by step increase the capital in the JV following the job we have to do. Our plan is to upgrade this figure to Rs 850 crore. So, my investment in this Rs 850 crore will over five years be 49% of this number, which is about Rs 425 crore. It has nothing to do with the big figures I have been hearing."

Edited By Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal