MRFA was started 2018/2019.
Request for Information ( RFI) for the MRFA went out in 2017 IIRC after cancellation of the MMRCA in 2016 when we signed the contract for 36 nos Rafales with Dassault.
An order should have been placed 2020-2022 IMO.
Subsequently there was no Acceptance of Necessity ( AoN ) granted by the GoI which is mandatory before the next move which is the issuance of Request for Proposal ( RFP ).
The issue then was the mode of procurement where the MoD / GoI favoured a piece meal induction of Rafales thru direct imports with offset clauses which was nixed by the then ACM Chaudhari of the IAF who in turn wanted the entire lot in one go thru the MRFA tender.
The issue was the budget which was estimated to be anywhere between 20-30 billion USD. If we went ahead with the tender for procurement of the Rafales it would entail that the CAPEX budget of the entire defence forces would be dedicated to the IAF in large part for a decade or more.
It also resulted in a very public spat between the then ACM Chaudhari of the IAF & the then CDS the late Gen Rawat .
I don't see the point of pursuing it now.
Ideally yes . We ought to sign up for 54 nos Rafales thru a G2G contract with the French government & close the topic . But logic isn't a strong point with our defence planners & the entire methodology of procurement.
This means that the case for such an MRFA tender is very much open . Another aspect to be considered is the political storm the last deal underwent where the opposition accused the GoI of corruption in the matter citing the partnership of Dassault with Reliance which enjoyed an unsavory reputation & subsequently went bankrupt over the state owned HAL , partnering with whom Dassault had reservations over resulting in Dassault making wild allegations against HAL in 2012-13 when it was declared the winner of the MMRCA tender & was expected to collaborate with HAL for production of ~ 90 odd FAs in India with the rest being imported directly from Dassault .
That tender was subsequently cancelled after fresh negotiations between Dassault , Government of France & the IAF , MoD & GoI resulting in an emergency import of 36 nos Rafales in 2016. The timelines are important because much of the MMRCA tender was implemented during the Congress led UPA Government's era even if the original MMRCA tender was initiated by the BJP led NDA in 2002-04 which came back to power in 2014 & remains so as we speak.
The bone of contention was the timeline & guarantee for the product which GoI thrust on the OEM which in this case was Dassault as it emerged the winner. Dassault after signing on to the tender & agreeing to ALL the T&Cs conveniently backed out once it was declared the winner during negotiations.
There's a lot of history & bad blood between all the parties involved namely GoI , MoD , IAF , HAL , Dassault & Reliance.
Tracking defence procurements in India of this magnitude is in itself a full time job .
So much time has been wasted that Tejas Mk2 could enter production soon after the MRFA winner enters production. However, that guesstimate is based on there being no big problems in Mk2 development that are being concealed. And fast tracking the project.
PS and order a couple of squadrons of Rafale pronto if they can be delivered within 5 years
Right now the idea is to cut down the processing of the tender in-house by the MoD & IAF - the user in this case , from the 7-8 years extended to a decade they normally take , right from the issuance of the RFP to the formal signing of the contract to under two years.
Whether this will happen as envisaged remains to be seen . Lots of other loose ends to be tied up as well like if the tender is Make in India as the original idea was then what's the component of indigenization in terms of percentage & value & the schedule for it , to identification of the various vendors scheduled to supply the sub assemblies & their vetting , to the partners the various Foreign OEMs are going to tie up with , etc .
.
