New Delhi, January: A day after the Congress slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for purchasing Rafale jets at higher prices, France government has come to the PM's rescue. It today denied reports of ordering 28 Rafale jets at half the price compared to what India was charged to buy 36 jets. French ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler claimed that France did not place any order for Rafale jets. French Government Denies Rahul Gandhi's Claims; Says, 'Rafale Deal is Sensitive, We Can’t Reveal All Details'.

Ziegler tweeted, “France did not announce yesterday any new aircraft acquisition order! The amount you’re referring to will finance solely the development of the new F4 standard for the #Rafale. The 28 aircraft remaining to be delivered to the 🇫🇷Air Force are part of previous acquisition contracts.”

Yesterday, the Congress took a dig at PM Modi over the Rafale Deal. The grand old while referring to a report published in the USA-based site navytimes.com, raised questions over the deal by comparing it with the amount of money spent by France to upgrade its 28 Rafale Jets.

The Navy Times on Monday reported that The French government had signed a euro 2 billion contract with Dassault Aviation for 28 Rafale aircraft. According to the report, the 28 aircraft will include some F4 functionalities and be delivered to the French air force from 2023. The Indian Air Force will be getting F3R variant of Rafale fighter jet. Meanwhile, by 2024 France will be upgrading its Rafale jets to F4 variant. Full Text of Rafale Deal Verdict by Supreme Court.

The National Democratic Alliance after coming to power in 2014 scrapped the proposed deal of the previous government. It signed a new contract in 2016, worth Rs 59,000 crore to acquire 36 jets in ready to fly condition. The Congress is alleging corruption in the deal signed by the Narendra Modi government.  The grand old party is also raising questions on the offset contract worth Rs 30,000 crore given to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited instead of government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 16, 2019 10:23 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).