Hours after Congress veteran AK Antony accused Nirmala Sitharaman of trying to tarnish the image of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the defence minister on Tuesday said the state-run entity was dropped from the Rafale deal by the UPA government itself. Sitharaman said since HAL and Dassault Aviation, the French firm that produces Rafale, could not concur on the production terms, it was dropped from the agreement by the Congress government. “HAL and Dassault couldn’t agree on production terms. So HAL and Rafale couldn’t go together. Doesn’t that very clearly say who didn’t go together with HAL and under which government it happened,” Sitharaman said during an interaction at the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC).
The Congress has alleged that state-run HAL was overlooked for Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group to meet the ‘offset’ or export obligation in the contract because of the businessman’s reported proximity with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hours after Congress veteran AK Antony accused Nirmala Sitharaman of trying to tarnish the image of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the defence minister on Tuesday said the state-run entity was dropped from the Rafale deal by the UPA government itself. Sitharaman said since HAL and Dassault Aviation, the French firm that produces Rafale, could not concur on the production terms, it was dropped from the agreement by the Congress government. “HAL and Dassault couldn’t agree on production terms. So HAL and Rafale couldn’t go together. Doesn’t that very clearly say who didn’t go together with HAL and under which government it happened,” Sitharaman said during an interaction at the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC).
The Congress has alleged that state-run HAL was overlooked for Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group to meet the ‘offset’ or export obligation in the contract because of the businessman’s reported proximity with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.