Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been accusing the government of sidelining the HAL to favour Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited chairman R Madhavan on Saturday said that HAL was capable of manufacturing the Rafale aircraft but the issue was of speed. He said that the HAL has no role to play in present deal as all the fighter jets will come in a flyaway condition. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been accusing the government of sidelining the HAL to favour Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence.

Speaking to reporters on this, Madhavan said: “HAL was capable of making aircraft. But the issue was of speed. HAL was part of the deal when the talks were on for 126 aircraft. In the earlier case, some would have been made here and other would have been bought. But since the government is buying 36 fighter jets in a flyaway condition, they will not be manufactured here so there is no question of HAL being part of the deal.”

Rahul Gandhi has also questioned the government’s move to cut the number of fighter jets from 126 to 36 in the current deal. Under the previous regime, the deal was being negotiated for 126 fighter jets. However, the government said that the decision to buy two-squadrons was made keeping Air Force’s immediate requirement in mind.

The ruling dispensation has also blamed the previous Congress-led government for not finalising the deal on time, therefore putting the country’s national security at risk. The deal was announced in 2016 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France. But the opposition parties including some activists and lawyers claimed corruption in the multi-billion deal and approached the Supreme Court.

The apex court, however, dismissed all the petitions saying there was no substantial proof to suggest any wrongdoing or any corporate favouritism. The Congress has now demanded a joint parliamentary committee to probe the deal.