The trio also accused PM Modi of single-handedly changing the parameters of the deal.
Private shipyards like the Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited are likely to respond to the navy's Request for Information (RFI) along with state-run shipyards.
Admiral Puri says it would be wasteful to buy a foreign helicopter, pay for transfer of technology, and develop manufacturing capability in an Indian private sector strategic partner when all this already exists with HAL.
He claimed the NDA government bought the planes at Rs 1,600 crore a piece as against the Rs 526 crore for each aircraft fixed by the UPA.
"He (Modi) is not a chowkidar (watchman), but bhagidar (partner, of capitalists)," Rahul Gandhi charged.
The defence and aerospace sectors have seen at least over Rs 10,000 crore worth of MoUs being signed during the summit.
The Congress has launched an offensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party government over the Rafale deal, alleging corruption and violation of rules by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded answers from him.
In a two-page letter written on December 12, 2017, the Reliance head said he was "personally saddened" by the "unfortunate statements" against him and his group by several functionaries of the Congress party.
Congress chief urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to answer the questions raised by the Congress on the multi-million dollar fighter jet deal.
"They probably ran the Defence Ministry with a lot of brokers and 'dalals' in between," she said.
Anwar's move came a day after media reports quoted Pawar having told a Marathi news channel that he did not think people had doubts over the prime minister's intentions in the Rafale fighter plane deal.
Defence minister claims MoD 'alive and kicking' after 'getting the weeds out'.
Warship building projects worth at least Rs 630 billion have ground to a standstill. The defence ministry has halted tendering in wait for a government decision on whether to allow, or to exclude, Anil Ambani's shipbuilding firm from those contracts.
The defence ministry has lost sight of what it intended to achieve -- which was to nurture private defence firms that would compete on equal terms with the 9 defence PSUs and the 41 Ordnance Factory Board factories.
The Congress has raised several questions on the Rafale deal, accusing the government of compromising with national interests.
S&P BSE Sensex settled at 31,170, up 60 points, while the broader Nifty50 closed at record high for third straight session. It ended at 9,624, up 19 points.
The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 207 points to end at 25,230.
The political row over the Rafale deal intensified on Tuesday with the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party trading barbs over it.
The Raksha Mantri was unable to address media queries about how much the Modi government was paying for 36 Rafales compared to what the UPA government had negotiated.
Delivery of a great operational machine must not get affected to settle political scores, says Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd).
At 11:37 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 28 points at 27,037 and the Nifty50 was up 2 points at 8,268
Indices reversed all its losses during late trades.
There could be significant announcements about India's purchase of Kamov-226T helicopters, S-400 air defence missile systems, and the long-delayed contract for joint development of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft.
Downplaying the allegations made by the Congress and former French President Francois Hollande's statement that the Indian government played a role in finalising Reliance Defence as Dassault Aviation's offset partner, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that some statements are made to create controversy and these do not have credibility. In an exclusive interview to ANI, Jaitley added that circumstances and fact prove these statements wrong.
Why did Modi bypass the Cabinet before he committed India to the Rafale deal?
Anil Ambani will take over as the chairman of Pipavav Defence
Sensex rises, Nifty holds 8,900; FMCG, Pharma shares lead.
'With Pakistan's 'first use doctrine' threatening the use of nuclear weapons early in a war with India, the S-400 will shield vulnerable targets like Delhi and Mumbai, complicating Pakistan's targeting calculations.'
'There is no difference between the earlier government and the present government.' 'They are all following the economic policy based on the Chicago School of thought.' 'This school of thought says the government should have very little role in governing the country and the majority of the work should be handed over to the private sector.' 'This has not succeeded in the US.' 'Yet, it is being tried here by people like Arvind Subramaniam, Arvind Panagariya, Urjit Patel and Raghuram Rajan.'
'What should worry India and which needs to be expressed is Russia's simultaneous proximity to both China and Pakistan from a strategic angle. That hasn't happened ever before,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
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