New Delhi: Amid hullabaloo raised by the grand old Congress party over the Rafale deal issue, Dassault Aviation issued a statement to clarify that the contract signed in 2016 for 36 aircraft. It confirms India's stand on the offsets agreement between the aviation and Reliance Group, repeating that Reliance Group was selected in compliance with the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 regulations.

The statement clarified that although the Rafale deal was a contract between the Indian and the French governments, it provided for a separate contract in which Dassault Aviation committed to making compensation investments (offsets) in India alike to 50 per cent of the value of the pay for.

"This contract is a government-to-government agreement. It provides for a separate contract in which Dassault Aviation commits to make compensation investments (offsets) in India worth 50% of the value of the purchase," the statement read.

It further said, "This offsets contract is delivered in compliance with the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 regulations. In this framework, and in accordance with the policy of Make in India, Dassault Aviation has decided to make a partnership with India's Reliance Group. This is Dassault Aviation's choice, as CEO Eric Trappier had explained in an interview published in MINT newspaper on April 17, 2018. This partnership has led to the creation of the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) joint-venture in February 2017."

The compamy further stated that Dassault Aviation and Reliance have built a plant in Nagpur for manufacturing parts for Falcon and Rafale aircraft. It also said that the Nagpur site was chosen because of the availability of land with direct access to an airport runway which is an essential condition of aeronautic activities.

The French aviation company also stated that contracts were inked with companies other than Reliance as well, as part of the offsets contract under the Rafale deal.

The firm revealed that other partnerships have been signed with other companies such as BTSL, DEFSYS, Kinetic, Mahindra, Maini, SAMTEL. Other negotiations are continuing with hundred-odd other potential partners.

The statement by Dassault Aviation emerges soon after former French president, François Hollande, claimed that Dassault Aviation was given no choice but to collaborate with Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence for the compensation investments in the Rafale fighter jet deal.