By Ajit Dubey
Update: June 01, 2026 19:33 Is
New Delhi (India), June 1 (ANI) In a major development, India has issued a Letter of Request (LoR) to France for a mega government-to-government deal worth about Rs 3.25 lakh crore to buy 114 Rafale fighter jets for the Indian Air Force.
Top sources in the defense ministry told ANI that a letter of request was issued last week by the acquisition wing of the defense ministry to French government officials for the deal. Under the deal, 94 Rafale jets will be manufactured in India by French manufacturer Dassault Aviation in partnership with an Indian company.
He said the French side is expected to respond to the Indian letter of request or tender in the next two to three months and both sides are likely to negotiate and conclude the agreement within the next one year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit France in mid-June, and the Rafale deal is also expected to be discussed during the meeting with the French leadership.
India is facing a serious shortage of fighter aircraft squadrons in its inventory and is attempting to tackle the shortage by inducting a large number of advanced 4.5-generation-plus Rafale aircraft.
While the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy have already placed orders for 62 Rafale aircraft, the order for 114 Rafale aircraft will take their number to 176. The Indian Navy has also already expressed its intention to induct 31 more of these aircraft to deal with the maritime threat and this could take the number of Rafales in the country to more than 200.
Soon after Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh takes charge in 2024, the Defense Ministry had conducted a major study to enhance the capability of the Indian Air Force and the Defense Ministry is working in that direction in a focused manner.
The Defense Acquisition Council had approved the Indian Air Force’s proposal to buy 114 Rafale jets four months ago.
Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh is in France and is likely to visit the French facilities of Dassault Aviation where the fighter jets are manufactured.
As part of the deal, it will be the first time that Rafale aircraft will be manufactured outside France with about 50 per cent localisation.
“For the first time, ‘Make in India’, Rafale backed by a government-to-government agreement outside France, no intermediaries, complete transparency in the project, G2G significant levels of localisation, and full authority to integrate Indian weapons and Indian systems are the main features of this programme. It also enables us to induct combat aircraft relatively quickly as the first aircraft of the Rafale Marines will start arriving in ’28, and after that, over a period of time, you will see it in about three and a half years. Now, the first of these Air Force Rafales will also start arriving,” the Defense Secretary had told ANI after the DAC approved the proposal (ANI).