India has approved a plan to buy and jointly manufacture 114 French-made Rafale fighter jets in a multibillion-dollar deal to plug critical gaps in its air defenses.
The South Asian nation's Defense Procurement Board, which is headed by the ministry's top bureaucrat and decides on large purchases, cleared the proposal to buy the Dassault Aviation jets on Friday, according to senior officials, who declined to be named because the discussions are private.
India's Ministry of Defense and Air Force did not immediately respond to requests for comment after business hours.
The purchase would be a significant upgrade for the Indian Air Force, whose fighter fleet, largely of Russian origin, is dwindling. India canceled a deal to buy 126 Rafale fighters from France in 2015 after years of negotiations over quality assurance issues with Indian-manufactured jets.
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to visit India next month, Indian news outlets have reported. Although Russia remains India's biggest supplier of weapons, New Delhi has reduced its purchases of military hardware from Moscow during the last few years.
A media representative for Dassault declined to comment.
More steps remain before a final contract is signed and deliveries start, including price negotiations and final clearance by the federal cabinet.
New Delhi is single largest buyer of French-made military hardware, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an international think tank that tracks global arms sales.
India already has 36 Rafales and signed a deal in April to buy 26 maritime variants of the fighter in April, Bloomberg News reported.
All but a few of the 114 jets will be made in India jointly with the French defense manufacturing giant, who will transfer technology to Indian partners, the people said.
The plan envisions the jets having 50%-60% Indian made components, including the airframe, avionics and engine, after the technology transfer is complete.
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