June 12 (UPI) -- Dassault Aviation and Indian partner Reliance Defense & Aerospace plan to break ground next month on a joint venture facility for Rafale jet fighter components.
The investment of Dassault-Reliance Aerospace Limited is part of Dassault's obligations on Make in India commitments under the Rafale fighter jet deal.
The overall deal, worth $8.8 billion, was reached last September for India's purchase of more than 30 of the jet fighters.
"The JV will be used for creating infrastructure at the Mihan (Nagpur) facility, with a ground-breaking ceremony planned for the end of July," India's Economic Times quoted Rajesh K Dhingra, president, Reliance Defense & Aerospace.
Teams from the French company have visited the site at least four times in the past three months to finalize project plans. The groundbreaking is planned in July and we expect the first article to roll out in the first quarter of 2018.
The first group of Indian engineers are currently undergoing training at Dassault facilities in France, he said.
Under the September deal, Dassault is required to manufacture a significant portion of the Rafale aircraft in India.
