New Delhi : The defence ministry on Thursday cleared a long-pending proposal to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets under a government-to-government framework from France, nearly 13 years after a similar acquisition was almost firmed up.

In total, capital acquisition of military hardware worth Rs 3.60 lakh crore was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, to enhance the combat readiness of the defence forces.

The approval for procurement of the Rafale jets came just four days ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India.

However, a formal contract to seal the deal is unlikely before end of the year as the defence ministry will now have to carry out negotiations with Dassault Aviation to finalise the cost and finer details of the weapons package.

In April 2019, the the Indian Air Force issued an RFI (Request for Information), or initial tender to acquire 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) at a cost of around USD 18 billion.

It was billed as one of the world’s biggest military procurement programmes in recent years.

The other contenders for the mega project included Lockheed Martin’s F-21, Boeing’s F/A-18 and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The move to procure the jets has come at a time when the number of the Indian Air Force’s fighter squadrons have gone down to 31 from officially sanctioned strength of 42.

Nearly 13 years back, the defence ministry had completed ground work for procurement of a fleet of Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).

However, the project didn’t go through.

In 2015, the Modi government announced a government-to-government deal for 36 Rafale fighters in the face of rapidly declining squadron strength of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Indian Air Force currently operates these Rafale jets.