Once a CAG report is submitted, the government decides on the date and time of its tabling in Parliament. After tabling in Parliament, CAG reports are sent to the Public Accounts Committee, which is headed by an opposition leader, for evaluation

NEW DELHI: The government's official auditor, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), is yet to finalise its report on the Rs 59,000 crore deal to acquire 36 Rafale jets in an inter-governmental agreement signed with France in 2016.

The CAG report on the Rafale deal, expected to be complete by January-end, may be combined with several other defence acquisitions, sources said. The auditor's observations on the Rafale deal is likely to be summarised into a chapter in a comprehensive report on defence acquisitions, sources added.

The federal auditor is yet to hold the exit conference with the defence ministry, a mandatory procedure before finalisation of the report.

Once a CAG report is submitted, the government decides on the date and time of its tabling in Parliament. This is sometimes delayed by months. After tabling in Parliament, CAG reports are sent to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is headed by an opposition leader, for evaluation. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge is the PAC chairman.

The CAG has been conducting an audit of the Rafale deal for the last year and has gone into its pricing, bids from competitors and comparative pricing of other fighter jets available globally.