New Delhi. France will formally hand over to the Indian Air Force its first Rafale fighter jet on September 19.

The formal induction ceremony will be held at Merignac in France and will be attended by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa. Defense minister Rajnath Singh is also likely to travel to France for the ceremony.

The IAF had told the French government that the formal induction ceremony of the first of the 36 jets on order should be held in the third week of September, within three years of the signing of the contract.