Rahul Gandhi, the Congress president alleged that plane-maker Dassault Aviation paid Rs. 284 crores to Anil Ambani’s company as “the first instalment of kickbacks”
He said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi won’t survive an inquiry on Rafale, I guarantee,” Though he shared no evidence or document to prove his allegations.
He said Rafale maker Dassault followed up its offset partnership with Reliance Defence by investing around 40 million euros, around Rs. 284 crores last year in another Anil Ambani venture that is loss-making and has almost zero revenues.
According to the Wire report, Dassault’s investment translated into Rs. 284 crore profit for the Ambani group company, Reliance Infrastructure, which sold shares in a subsidiary, Reliance Airport Developers Limited (RADL) at a premium.
284 Cr of Rafale kick-back money has been traced to an Anil Ambani owned company.
The stench of corruption is leading straight to the gates of Race Course Road. #RafaleBribeRevealed
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 2, 2018
Earlier Dassault CEO Eric Trappier had claimed his company chose Reliance ADAG as its offsets partner because it had land available next to an airport. According to the report “The land was only given to Reliance by the state government after it had reached an understanding with Dassault to collaborate on the Rafale.”
Hitting at it Mr Gandhi said, “It is now revealed that the land was actually bought from the money of the contract that was given by Dassault to Anil Ambani and this is a clear-cut case of getting a kickback.”
The Congress president said that “Rafale is an open and shut case, the CEO is lying, the big question is why a company would invest Rs. 284 crore in a loss-making company with a valuation of Rs. 8.3 lakh. This is called kickback. This is the first instalment of the kickback that was given to Anil Ambani by Dassault.”