Reliance Group, Dassault Aviation Form JV For Rafale Offsets

Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra)-promoted Reliance Aerostructure and Dassault Aviation have formed Joint Venture known as 'Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited'.

Eric Trappier, Chairman of Dassault Aviation France, will be the Chairman, and Anil D Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Group, will be the Co-Chairman of Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited DRAL.

Reliance Aerostructure (RAL) will have 51% shareholding in the JV, while Dassault Aviation (DA) will hold 49%.

On 23 September 2016, India and France signed a purchase agreement for supply of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a value of €7.87 billion, or about Rs.60,000 crore.

The contract includes a 50% offset obligation to the tune of approximately Rs. 30,000 crore, which is the largest ever offset contract in the history of India. DRAL will be a key player in the execution of offset obligations.

DRAL has finalized the Infrastructure requirements at Dhirubhai Aerospace Park at Mihan, Nagpur and the construction work for the greenfield facility will start in May 2017, and production by end-2017.

DRAL will execute the programs in phases, with Phase I resulting in the generation of more than 700 highly-skilled direct jobs and 2,800 indirect jobs.

The proposed strategic partnership between Dassault and Reliance will also focus on promoting Research and Development projects under the IDDM program (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured), an initiative of Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.