Deficiencies turned into India-specific enhancements

New Delhi, February 13

Fourteen deficiencies in the Rafale fighter jet bid made in 2007 turned into India-Specific Enhancements (ISE) for which the government has paid up.

“As per the TEC (technical evaluation committee), Rafale aircraft had failed to meet 14 parameters,” the CAG said. In 2015, these deficiencies got labelled as 14 ISE. The 2007 bid did not meet the needs mandated by the IAF on 14 parametres. The TEC rejected the Rafale. In April 2009, the Ministry of Defence received a suo moto representation from Dassault for reconsideration of its proposal, stating that it was willing to modify the aircraft to meet all requirements.

In the previous procurement of 2007, Dassault had quoted a price as Non Recurring Cost (NRC) for Design and Development of ISE. However, the price for the equipment and integration of the ISEs was not quoted. — TNS