France's Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale and Mirage-2000 fighter jets, wants to establish a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in India.

This MRO facility will allow the Indian Air Force (IAF) to repair its Mirage-2000 and Rafale jets locally in India. The Indian Navy's Rafale-M jets will also be repaired at this facility.

The MRO facility will be located near Jewar International Airport in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and Dassault Aviation is in the process of acquiring land near the international airport.

The IAF already operates 36 Rafale jets, which were bought in 2016. These jets are India's most technologically advanced jets.

The Indian Navy is also looking to buy 26 of these jets worth $5 billion. A negotiating team for deciding the final price of these jets was earlier in India.

Dassault is also in the race to sell 114 fighter jets to IAF under the multi-role fighter aircraft (MRFA) contest.

The MRO facility at Jewar will also overhaul older Mirage-2000 jets in India, for which India is going to several countries to acquire older airframes for cannibalisation.

Safran, the manufacturer of M-88 engines for Dassault Rafale, is also planning another MRO facility in Hyderabad, which is expected to be operational by 2025. Safran has also committed to making these engines entirely in India if large numbers of Rafales are ordered.

Safran is also tying up with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to design, develop and manufacture a turboshaft engine to power the Indian Multi-role Helicopter (IMRH) and Deck-Based Multi-role Helicopter (DB-MRH).

These new MRO facilities also pave the way for the production of Rafale fighters and their components in India if Dassault wins the MRFA competition.

(With Agency Inputs)