India moves to buy 114 Rafale fighter jets in ₹3.25 lakh crore mega defence deal with France

India has formally initiated the process to buy 114 new Rafale fighter jets. The mega defence deal is expected to be worth ₹ 3.25 lakh crore or $39 billion. India has finalised the Letter of Request and is expected to forward it to France in the next few weeks. Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh is on a four-day visit to France on June 1, 2026. He is expected to hold discussions with French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, which makes Rafale, and MBDA, which makes advanced missiles like Meteor and SCALP, during the visit.

The procurement bypasses multi-vendor competitions, moving directly through an Intergovernmental Agreement. France is projected to respond with pricing logistics and production timelines within 2 to 3 months. Formal talks will follow with a goal to finalise the contract within a year, as reported by ANI, citing defence ministry sources.

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The proposed acquisition forms part of the Indian Air Force's Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme, which aims to address the service's declining fighter squadron strength. India has a sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons, but it maintains only 29 squadrons. The proposed deal is likely to fill that deficiency. The deal is structured heavily around domestic aerospace manufacturing. Defence officials have proposed that around 90 to 94 aircraft of the new Rafale fighter jets could be built domestically, while the rest of them would be supplied directly from France. India currently has 36 Rafale fighter jets all of delivered directly from France between 2020 and 2022.

The move comes amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expected visit to France in mid-June. It is expected to serve as the definitive platform to formalise this multi-billion-dollar fighter jet deal.