India Opens Price Bids of Eurofighter, Dassault in MMRCA Fighter Jet Deal

Announcement of the final winner in India’s Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft(MMRCA)tender may have to wait a while as the process of evaluation of the price bids of Eurofighter and Dasssault commenced in New Delhi today with the opening of the bids in the presence of the representatives of both companies. Informed sources told Defenseworld.net that examining the bids- which include upfront costs, spares, consumables, setting up facilities for assembly besides life cycle costs may take a while before arriving at which among the two aircraft, the Eurofighter Typhoon or the Dassault Rafale was the lowest bidder. “The exercise may take weeks and the results will then be forwarded to the government to take a decision on which of the two aircraft costs the least taking all aspects into consideration. One aircraft may be low on initial cost but high on life-cycle costs. The proposals will have to be minutely examined”, said the source. Both the aircraft are considered technically qualified which means the Indian Air Force will have to accept any one of the aircraft which the government finds to have offered the lowest pricing from a comprehensive perspective.