HAL chopper unit is testimony to exposed lies: PM Modi

Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party at the time were attacking the Modi government over the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale fighter jet deal alleging corruption and favouritism

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said several "false" allegations were levelled against his government by using the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) as a plank, describing it as "misinformation" that "wasted precious time in Parliament."

This was a veiled reference allegations of corruption in the procurement of Rafale fighter jets in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, a campaign Congress used to target Modi with the "Chowkidar Chor Hai" jibe.

"A conspiracy was hatched to provoke people against the government in the name of HAL and wasted precious time in Parliament," Modi said addressing a public gathering after opening India's biggest helicopter manufacturing facility of HAL here.

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“Today, the helicopter factory here stands as a testimony that has exposed the lies and misinformation spread about HAL. No matter how big the lie is, eventually it's defeated against the truth,” Modi said, without either naming Congress or mentioning the Rafale deal.

Modi stressed that the union government strengthened the functioning of public sector defence companies in the last eight years while also opening doors to the private sector. "We are seeing its benefits in the HAL as well. The investment in aerospace sector in the last nine years has seen a jump of 4-5 times more than the figure witnessed in a 15-year period before 2014,” Modi claimed.

Modi also said that the "double-engine government" has made Karnataka the "first choice" of investors. “Tumakuru has got a big helicopter factory today. Karnataka is a land of young talent and innovation. The world is seeing the manufacturing power of Karnataka - from drone manufacturing to Tejas fighter planes," he said.

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Spread across 615 acres of land, the HAL's greenfield factory will manufacture Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) and Indian Multirole Helicopters (IMRH). Recalling that he had laid the foundation stone for the factory in 2016, Modi said his government had resolved to make India less dependent on other nations. "The resolve was to make the dependence of our security requirements on foreign countries as less as possible. Modern assault rifles, aircraft carriers and fighter jets are being manufactured by India,” he said.

Tushar Mangure, defense analyst at GlobalData, said the new HAL facility would meet the requirements of the Indian armed forces. "The overall requirement of light and medium helicopters by the Indian Armed Forces over the next 15 years is approximately 1,200," he said.