Indian Navy set to issue Rs 50,000 crore tender for building six more advanced submarines

Indian Navy is set to issue Rs. 5,000 crore tender to build six more advanced conventional submarines. The tender has been accepted by the Defense Ministry, and an extended high-level meeting is expected to be held on Friday about the same. Reportedly the meeting is scheduled to accept the draft request for proposal for clearance following which, the tender will be issued to the strategic partners. The project has been under making for a long and it has been named, P-75. It will be built in line of succession to Scorpene or Kalvari which was built at the Mazagaon Dockyards Limited along with France as the partner.

Indian Navy's defense procurement plan

The Indian Navy is planning to build 24 new submarines along with six nuclear attack submarines, to pump up its underwater fighting abilities. The Navy presently acquires 15 conventional submarines and two nuclear submarines. Further, the maritime force has put down a requirement for heavy-duty firepowers and its boats to have at least 12 Land Attack Cruise Missiles (LACM) along with Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles (ASCM). The Navy also added requisition for the submarines to carry and be able to launch 18 heavyweight torpedos in the sea. So far the Scorpenes had heavyweight torpedoes and the Exocet surface to surface missiles as their weapon, but the upcoming set of submarines will have advanced firepower compared to the Scorpenes.

Strategic Partners to P-75

The strategic partners for the project have already been identified and cleared. MDL, Larsen, and Turbo have been recognized as strategic partners to collaborate with five global manufacturers- French Naval Group, German TKMS, South Korean Daewoo, Spanish Navantia, and Russian Rosoborboexport. Two projects are underway with the strategic partnership policy that was expected to develop the indigenous private sector in defense as a major producer but now it is also witnessing participation from the public sector firms. 

(Source- ANI)