The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) gave the Indian Navy the go-ahead Friday to select an Indian strategic partner company which, in collaboration with a foreign Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), will build six conventional attack submarines in the country.
Project 75 India or P75I will be the first under the strategic partnership model, promulgated in 2017 to boost indigenous defence manufacturing. The first submarine built under the project is likely to be delivered by 2030.
Two Indian companies shortlisted as strategic partners, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro, will have to respond, in partnership with one of the five OEMs, to the Request for Proposal (RFP).
The five OEMs are Rosoboronexport (ROE) of Russia, ThyssenKrupp of Germany, Naval Group of France, Navantia of Spain and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering of South Korea. These companies were shortlisted by an empowered committee last year.
The project had been approved in 2007, but remained on the backburner until 2019 when, in February that year, the government approved the Acceptance of Necessity.
In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said the DAC, at a meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, “approved issue of RFP for construction of six Conventional Submarines under Project P 75 (I) under the Strategic Partnership (SP) Model”.
“This project envisages indigenous construction of six conventional submarines equipped with the…
