In the forefront

New Delhi, Feb. 12 (PTI): French defence major Dassault Aviation has entered into an agreement with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for partnering in defence and homeland security sectors in the country.

“Dassault Aviation, a major player in the global aerospace industry, has entered into an MoU with Reliance Industries, for pursuing strategic opportunities of collaboration in the area of complex manufacturing and support in India,” officials of the two companies said.

The defence ministry had on January 31 offered Dassault the multi-billion dollar deal to supply 126 combat aircraft to the IAF.

Sources said there was a possibility of the two companies working together in the Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal here.

After finalising the deal, Dassault will have to reinvest 50 per cent of the worth of the deal back into the Indian defence sector.

The aerospace and security division of Reliance Industries is headed by Vivek Lall, who has been closely associated with the MMRCA deal, while spearheading the campaign for Boeing in the deal.

Lall has earlier worked with American NASA and Raytheon. He was recognised at Cambridge, England, as one of the 2,000 outstanding scientists in the 20th century.

Mukesh Ambani-headed RIL has made several efforts in the past to position itself in the defence, internal security and aerospace solutions sector.

The oil and gas conglomerate had reported a 13.6 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 4,400 crore in the three months ended December 31, 2011 compared with Rs 5,136 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.