1970s onwards, there was the advent of arms deals which were major sources of slush funds for buyers, sellers, middlemen and everyone else in between. The first major deal that went this way was the Anglo-French SEPECAT Jaguar deep-penetration strike aircraft in 1978, when Jagjivan Ram was the Defence Minister.

Even if the Rafale was bought in 2014 as it was cleared by the MMRCA tender for far less, i.e. $10.5 billion for 126 aircrafts, it would have involved under-the-table payments.