A $5 billion deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from France is on the agenda of a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council in South Block on Friday, August 28. The Rafale deal has been listed for discussion as a 'confidential project' in the meeting.

The government hopes the DAC will clear the purchase of the jets before French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrives in New Delhi on Tuesday. Sources say the government is keen to sign the deal during the defence minister's visit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India would buy 36 Rafale fighters off-the-shelf during his state visit to Paris this April. Talks with French manufacturer Dassault are currently deadlocked over price.

Dassault has refused to lower the cost of the aircraft or give offsets (reinvesting 50 per cent of the contract value into the Indian market). Sources told MAIL TODAY that the DAC will aim to take certain deviations to allow negotiations to move forward and enable the deal to be signed.

The MoD scrapped a decade-old project this month to acquire Multirole Medium Combat Aircraft (MMRCA). In 2012, the Rafale had ended up as finalist in the IAF's quest for 126 jets but the talks were deadlocked for three years over technical issues.