Ambani got Rs 1,125 Cr tax waiver from France: Report

The Rafale deal is back in the news in a new form.  Back in 2015, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communication’s subsidiary in France reportedly got a waiver of taxes worth Rs 1,125 Cr at a time when the Indian Government was negotiating the Rafale fighter jet deal with France.  This has been revealed by a French newspaper named ‘Le Monde’.  

The French tax authorities told Reliance Communication to pay Rs 56 Cr as final settlement.  The rest of the tax dues were waived off.    

However, in its statement on Saturday, Anil Ambani’s company has said that the tax levies were unsustainable and unfair, which is why they were waived off.  The taxes pertain to the period 2007-10.   

The Defence Ministry has immediately issued a statement.  “Neither the period of the tax concession nor the subject matter of the concession relate even remotely to the Rafale deal concluded during the tenure of the present Government. Any connections drawn between the tax issue and the Rafale deal is totally inaccurate, tendentious and is a mischievous attempt to disinform,” it said.  

Defence expert Abhijit Iyer-Mitra sees no scam here.  “Regarding Le Monde’s report, there is no story except an unethical attempt at linking Rafale despite ZERO PROOF. The deal was part of a tax negotiation and settlement process AS PER FRENCH LAW, NO PROCESS VIOLATION,” he writes.