Had to decrease price of 36 Rafale Jets by 9%: Dassault CEO

New Delhi: CEO of French plane-maker Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, today rubbished the allegations levelled by Congress President Rahul Gandhi in connection with its tie-up with companies in Anil Ambani's Reliance Group for offset contracts of Rafale Jets.

During an interview to ANI, at a hangar at Istre- Le Tube airbase in France, Trappier said, " We chose Ambani by ourselves. We already have 30 partners other than Reliance."

"Price of 36 was exactly the same when you compare with 18 flyaway. 36 is the double of 18. So as far as I was concerned, it should have been double the price. But because it was govt to govt, there was negotiation, I had to decrease price by 9%," Trappier added.

"I don't lie.The truth I declared before and the statements I made are true. I don't have a reputation of lying. In my position as CEO, you don't lie," the Dassault CEO said.

On the other hand, the Congress party, alleged a "fixed match" between the Modi government and Rafale maker Dassault, and said that the "blatant corruption" in the fighter jet deal cannot be hidden and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into it.

"The nation does not need doctored explanations but fair investigation. A fixed match between the BJP government and Dassault and public relation stunts of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (Dassault Aviation CEO) Eric Trappier can't hide the blatant corruption," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

(With IANS inputs)