Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot says no clause bars disclosure of Rafale aircraft price

Talking to reporters at the Tamil Nadu Congress headquarters, Sathiyamoorthy Bhavan, he said there was no secrecy clause that barred the government from disclosing the purchase price of the aircraft.
Sachin Pilot and TNCC President Thirunavukkarasar being greeted by loyalists in Chennai on Monday. |  P Jawahar
Sachin Pilot and TNCC President Thirunavukkarasar being greeted by loyalists in Chennai on Monday. | P Jawahar

CHENNAI: Former Union Minister and president of the Rajasthan Congress Committee Sachin Pilot on Monday questioned the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister for their silence on disclosing the purchase price of Rafale fighter aircraft.

Talking to reporters at the Tamil Nadu Congress headquarters, Sathiyamoorthy Bhavan, he said there was no secrecy clause that barred the government from disclosing the purchase price of the aircraft. “While the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister refuse to divulge the inflated price of 36 Rafale aircraft claiming secrecy clause, the agreement between India and France has no such clause on non-disclosure of commercial purchase price,” he noted.

Recalling that the Congress-led UPA government had revealed the prices of Dassault Aviation-made MIRAGE aircraft, as also Sukhoi aircraft and other Defence purchases on the floor of Parliament, he asked what the PM and the Defence Minister were hiding. “ Does the refusal to tell the price reek of a scam?,” he said. Pilot pointed out that no mandatory prior approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security was taken at the time of announcing the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft on April 1, 2015.

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