Dassault Aviation of France has entered into a partnership with Reliance group to execute offsets for the recently concluded deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets. The joint venture called “Dassault Reliance Aerospace” was jointly announced by Dassault Aviation Chairman & CEO Eric Trappier and Reliance Group Chairman Anil Dhirubhai Ambani.

“This is the largest offset contract to be executed by any defence company in India till date,” Reliance said in a statement as the contract value is estimated up to Rs. 30,000 crore.

Last month, India and France signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for 36 Rafale multi-role jets in fly-away condition worth €7.87 billion or about Rs. 59,000 crore. The deal has a 50 per cent offset clause to be executed by Dassault and its partners in India.

“The offsets are only for seven years but the JV will be part of the global supply chain of Rafale jets to support the larger program. Given the scale of the contract, the JV will partner with 100 odd Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for sourcing and contracting.