The ministry claimed that any connection drawn ‘is totally inaccurate, tendentious and is a mischievous attempt to disinform’.
The Ministry of Defence on Saturday countered reports that alleged France waived taxes worth €143.7 million (Rs 1,125 crore) owed by a local subsidiary of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications in 2015, around the same time India was negotiating the Rafale jet deal. The Indian ministry claimed that this matter had nothing to do with the agreement the two countries signed.
“We have seen reports drawing conjectural connection between tax exemption to a private company and procurement of Rafale fighter jets by Government of India,” the ministry said in a press release. “Neither the period of the tax concession nor the subject matter of the concession relate even remotely to the Rafale procurement concluded during the tenure of the present government.”
The ministry claimed that any connection drawn between the tax waiver and the Rafale deal “is totally inaccurate, tendentious and is a mischievous attempt to disinform”.
French newspaper Le Monde had reported earlier on Saturday that the country’s government auditor had found unpaid taxes worth €60 million and then €91 million by Reliance Flag Atlantic France, which is owned by Ambani.
