MMRCA deal will materialise soon: Antony

[rugved]

Defence Minister A.K. Antony Thursday said negotiations to calculate "life-cycle cost" in the purchase of the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) were not settled yet but he was hopeful that the contract will materialse in the coming fiscal.

Talking to media persons at Defexpo '14 here, Antony denied there was any delay in concluding the MMRCA deal.

Antony said there were some complaints about the procedure to calculate life-cycle cost. "That's still not settled... (But) that is not affecting the process," he said.

The minister said that before taking the matter to the Cabinet Committee on Security, the defence ministry wanted clear cut answers on life-cycle cost of the combat aircraft.

"We do not want to shortcut the procedures," Antony said.

He said the ministry has already spent 92 percent of its capital budget for 2013-14 fiscal and there was no money this year for new projects.

"Major procurements are humanly possible only in next financial year," Antony said.

"(I hope) MMRCA will materialise next year," he said.

French firm Dassault Aviation bagged in 2012 the $10 billion deal for purchase of 126 Rafale medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).

Officials said the MMRCA deal is "complicated" and the contract has "technicalities and legal issues".

Source

 

[jmj_overlord]

Defence Minister A.K. Antony Thursday said negotiations to calculate "life-cycle cost" in the purchase of the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) were not settled yet but he was hopeful that the contract will materialse in the coming fiscal.

coming fiscal means 2014-15 ?

 

[feathers]

coming fiscal means 2014-15 ?

With General elections some months way , it would be not possible.

India delays Rafale fighter jet deal after exhausting capital budget | NDTV.com

"Major procurement can only be possible in the next financial year. There is no money left," Antony said. The country is due to hold elections by May and a new government is expected to be installed the following month.

 

[p2prada]

Deal has to be signed by Feb 15th or no deal this fiscal.

 

[rock127]

"Soon" in India means "Delayed further"

I guess deal would finalized in 2050 and first shipment would start from 2090.

 

[jmj_overlord]

With General elections some months way , it would be not possible.

India delays Rafale fighter jet deal after exhausting capital budget | NDTV.com

"Major procurement can only be possible in the next financial year. There is no money left," Antony said. The country is due to hold elections by May and a new government is expected to be installed the following month.

this will be disappointing if this year too there is no induction of the rafales, but anyway whatever little money is left should be conserved for other purposes. In the meantime we can concentrate on more of our own products development

 

[feathers]

this will be disappointing if this year too there is no induction of the rafales, but anyway whatever little money is left should be conserved for other purposes. In the meantime we can concentrate on more of our own products development

its disappointing but such delays are common in democracies when general elections are around, this deal worth $15 billion .

 

[Blackwater]

 

[Ray]

Just like inflation will come down soon!

 

[Jagdish58]

Will not be signed before Election

'No money to buy fighter jets'

Defence Minister AK Antony admitted here on Thursday that his Ministry does not have money to sign new contracts like medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) as 92 per cent of the capital budget for this fiscal was exhausted for ongoing projects and the remaining amount is earmarked for meeting contractual obligations.

Making this observation, he said given the magnitude of the MMRCA contract, pegged over Rs 45,000 crore, the contract will only be signed in the next fiscal. The Defence Ministry is now negotiating the contract with French aircraft manufacturer Dassault for its Rafale aircraft which emerged as the lowest bidder. The Minister, however, rubbished reports that the proposed MMRCA contract may be cancelled due to the complexities involved in negotiations and claimed that it will materialise in the next financial year. He said this when asked if the Ministry is looking for other options if the Rafale deal does not go through.

As regards resource constraint, Antony told reporters after inaugurating the eighth international Defence exhibition, Def Expo 2014, that his Ministry had spent 92 per cent of the capital budget of Rs 87,740.41 crore till now and the remaining amount was too less for big ticket items like MMRCA. "There is no money for major procurements," he said.

Refuting reports that the Finance Ministry had cut the Defence budget for this fiscal due to economic slowdown, he said there was an unforeseen rise in the revenue expenditure due to rising cost of fuel. In this backdrop, his Ministry sought more funds from the Finance Ministry to meet the shortfall but it refused. However, the Finance Ministry agreed not to cut the Defence budget, Antony said.

Faced with this situation, more than Rs 7,900 crore from the capital budget was shifted to the revenue budget of Rs 1,16,931.41 crore as the Services cannot afford to cut down on training and maintenance of weapon systems, he said. The Minister also said unlike in the past few years, his Ministry has spent the entire capital budget allocated to it in the last four years thereby indicating that acquisitions are on track. On the issue of modernisation slowing down due to blacklisting of foreign companies, Antony said procurement has become transparent and that India will only buy weapons on the basis of merit and vendors should refrain from lobbying.

 

[kseeker]

MMRCA deal will materialise soon: Antony

:blah: :blah: :blah:

We have been hearing such news since years! There's no real material whatsoever

BTW, scrap the deal, go for indigenous MMRCA and show those greedy Frenchies