Sitharaman lied on Rafale deal, PM compromised national interest: Congress
New Delhi, July 27 : Taking a sharp dig at the Narendra Modi government, the Congress party on Friday accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of "lying" on Reliance Defence Limited, which it said didn't have the experience in manufacturing fighter jets, having secured an offset contract from Dassault Aviation for Rs.30,000 crore and a consequent ‘Lifecycle Cost Contract of Rs. 1 lakh crore in the Rafale deal.
Stressing that national interest was being compromised by the prime minister and the defence minister, Congress demanded that Modi must break his silence and reply to the nation if he represented the interest of private companies and industrial houses.
"Defence Offset Contract went to Reliance Defence Ltd, which had zero experience of manufacturing fighter aircrafts. Reliance Defence Limited had been constituted 12 days before (March 28, 2015) the announcement of purchase of 36 Rafale aircrafts by PM Modi in France on April 10, 2015," alleged Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala citing a ministry of corporate affairs MCA services master data.
The party also alleged that Reliance Aerostructure Limited was given the license to manufacture fighter aircrafts by the Defence Ministry but it did not own any land or building on the date of the license, which is February 22, 2016.
"What is even more surprising is the fact that even Reliance Aerostructure Limited was incorporated on April 24, 2015, which is 14 days after the announcement of purchase of 36 Rafale aircrafts by the prime minister," he added.
"Culture of crony capitalism is the DNA of Modi government. It is truer than ever in case of Rs 60,145 crore Rafale Deal," Surjewala said.
Citing a press release by Reliance Defence Limited and Reliance Infrastructure Investors Presentation, Surjewala said that Reliance Defence Limited claimed "to have secured the offset contract from Dassault Aviation for Rs.30,000 crore and a consequent ‘Lifecycle Cost Contract' of Rs 1 lakh crore over 50 years."
The leader also cited Dassault Aviation's Annual Report of 2016-17 which claimed that ‘offset contract' was being executed by Reliance.
"On the contrary, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has claimed in a PIB press release dated February 7, 2018 that the ‘offset contract has not been awarded by Dassault Aviation," Surjewala said.
The PIB release stated: "No Indian Offset partner for the 2016 deal for 36 Rafale Aircraft has been so far selected by the vendor (DA)...".
Surjewala asked: "Who is lying? Defence Minister or Reliance/Dassault Aviation?"
He further said: "Can Reliance and Dassault Aviation sign an ‘offset contract' of Rs.30,000 crore without the approval of the Defence Minister?"
Surjewala said that "absence of approval for defence offset contract to Reliance Defence Ltd from the Defence Minister and Acquisition Manager of defence ministry and Defence Acquisition Council is in complete violation of contract guidelines."
He said that the public Sector Undertaking, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), had signed a Rs 36,000 crore offset contract in shape of a ‘Workshare Agreement' dated March 13, 2014. "Once Modi unilaterally announced an ‘off-the-shelf' purchase of 36 Rafale aircrafts in April, 2015, HAL was suddenly denied the biggest ever Defence Offset Contract," Surjewala added.
He also said art of deceiving India is the Modi government's mantra in this "mother of all defence deals."
He said that "conspiracy, deception and loss to public exchequer have marred the unilateral purchase of 36 Rafale aircrafts by the government."
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Rupee falls 9 paise to record low of 90.87 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee plunged 9 paise to a record low of 90.87 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, weighed down by sustained FII outflows and no breakthrough in the India-US trade deal.
However, a weaker greenback and a decline in global crude oil prices capped further losses in the domestic unit, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at its all-time low of 90.87 against the US dollar, down 9 paise from its previous close, and traded in a narrow range of 90.77- 90.87 in early trade.
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The rupee on Monday settled at a new all-time low of 90.78 against the US dollar, registering a loss of 29 paise over its previous close, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
"The US-India trade deal still seems to be off by a distance with the Commerce Secretary saying the first phase will be signed before the end of the year and news that we are closest to the deal being signed. The uncertainty has clouded the recovery on the USD/INR pair as the rupee opened lower with dollar buying happening every day," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
Even a reduction in trade deficit on Monday could not bring about a recovery in the rupee with Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) outflows continuing, he added
According to the latest government data released on Monday, India's trade deficit narrowed to a five-month low of USD 24.53 billion in November, as exports rebounded by 19.37 per cent to a six-month high of USD 38.13 billion after contracting in October, driven by higher shipments of engineering and electronics goods.
At the same time, the country's imports dipped by 1.88 per cent to USD 62.66 billion due to a fall in the inbound shipments of gold, crude oil, coal, and coke.
FIIs sold equities worth Rs 1,468.32 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
Also, wholesale price inflation stayed in the negative for the second consecutive month in November at (-) 0.32 per cent, even though there was an uptick in prices of food articles like pulses and vegetables on a month-on-month basis, government data showed on Monday.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was at (-) 1.21 per cent in October and 2.16 per cent in November last year.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 per cent lower at 98.27.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.61 per cent lower at USD 60.19 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index, Sensex, declined 363.92 points to 84,849.44 in early trade while the Nifty was down 106.65 points to 25,920.65.
