Govt To Press Ahead With Rs 40,000 Cr Tax Demand On Fiis: FM Arun Jaitley

He also said the government was ready to accommodate good suggestions made by the opposition on the land bill.

Asked about comments made by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs V K Singh, Jaitley said in his personal opinion the former Army chief should not have used the word 'presstitute' for media persons.

On the Rafale jet deal, Jaitley sought to defend it saying "cheapest is not the best" when it comes to national security.

"The government has to be decisive. We are going for Rafale because we earlier picked it up... It's a sign of political decisiveness," he said.

On why the government was opting for an expensive aircraft, he told NDTV, "...cheapest is not necessarily the best. On areas like defence ... you have to look in terms of entire quality."

Jaitley said because of the indecision of the previous government, the armed forces remained under equipped for almost a decade.

"It took you 10 years to decide how much FDI in insurance. It takes you 10 years to decide which aircraft to provide to our fighter pilots. Therefore a large nation state like India cannot survive on this pace of decision making. Therefore you have to come out with clear decisions," he said.

On whether it was against the concept of 'Make In India', Jaitley said, "I can make in India the Rafale jets after 20 years that does not mean I keep the army ill equipped for next 20 years."

Jaitley further said that the government has allowed 49 per cent FDI in defence which would encourage manufacturing of equipment within the country.

"We took a decision and now you have joint ventures of Indian companies. They are getting into defence manufacturing with 49 per cent international partners who are transferring technology," he added.
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