India to buy 36 French-manufactured ready-to-fly fighter jets
The announcement was made on Friday evening after a meeting with President of France Francois Hollande in Paris.
"I asked the President to supply us with 36 Rafale jet fighter planes, the ready-to-fly models," the Prime Minister said at a joint press conference.
He said terms and conditions of the contract have yet to be finalised and officials from both sides would work out the details.
Reports said the original plan was for India to buy 18 off-the-shelf jets from France's Dassault Aviation, with 108 others being assembled in India by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited or HAL in Bengaluru.
If negotiations work out, India would buy 144 aircraft, 18 more than the original 126, of which 108 jets will be assembled at home.
"The French President has supported Make In India. It is not a project, it is a thought," Modi said.
"France has always been a reliable supplier for India from jet fighters to submarines," the Prime Minister said.
India's move to purchase the jets is aimed at giving the air force two squadrons of the jets that it needs to upgrade its ageing fleet.
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