Hummingbird News Desk
NEW DELHI, 4 JUNE: The Defence Ministry on Friday cleared a mega project to build six conventional submarines for the Indian Navy at a cost of around Rs 43,000 crore, a decision aimed at narrowing the gap with growing naval prowess of China, government sources said.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The DAC is the Defence Ministry’s highest decision-making body on procurement. It has also approved proposals concerning Capital Acquisitions of various equipment for modernisation and operational needs of the Armed Forces amounting to approx. Rs 6,000 crore.
In a statement, the defence ministry said, “The DAC also 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 state-of-the-art Air Independent Propulsion system at an estimated cost of Rs 43,000 crore.”
“This is a landmark approval, being the first case processed under the Strategic Partnership model. This would be one of the largest ‘Make in India’ projects and will serve to facilitate faster and more significant absorption of technology and create a tiered industrial ecosystem for submarine construction in India. From a strategic perspective, this will help reduce current dependence on imports and gradually ensure greater self-reliance and dependability of supplies from indigenous sources,” the ministry said.
The request for proposal (RFP) from companies for the make-in-India project christened “P-75 India”, or Project 75, will be issued soon, a person familiar with the matter said. Specifications of the submarines and other critical requirements have been completed by the Indian Navy, the person said.
According to a statement from the defence ministry, construction of the submarines is the first acquisition under the strategic partnership model—that is, Indian industry in partnership with foreign equipment manufacturers. In January last year, the DAC had short-listed Mazagon Docks Ltd and Larsen and Toubro as the Indian partners for the P-75I deal. There are also five foreign equipment manufacturers short-listed—Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, South Korea; Naval Group of France; Navantia of Spain; Rosoboronexport of Russia; and TKMS of Germany.
With accord of this approval, the country will be enabled to achieve its 30-year Submarine construction programme envisioned by the Government to acquire national competence in submarine construction and for the Indian industry to independently design and construct submarines in India. The availability of new technologies and advanced manufacturing capabilities to the Industry will be an important step towards enhancing the nation’s quest for self-reliance in modern conventional submarine construction and sustainment activities whilst creating direct and indirect job opportunities in India, the ministry said.
This project under SP Model provides a unique long-term opportunity and planning certainty for the industry to invest and support submarine construction. It will also infuse the latest technology and weaponry for submarines in India through strategic tie up between Indian Industry and leading foreign OEMs.
There was a long pending need of the Indian Army for modernisation of its Air Defence guns. These had been earlier procured only from foreign sources. With the continued thrust of Ministry of Defence towards ‘ÁtmaNirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’, an enthusiastic response from about a dozen Indian companies was received. All of them have expressed their willingness and commitment to manufacture this complex gun system and associated equipment by ensuring technology assimilation in India. Accordingly, the DAC accorded approval of procurement of Air Defence Guns and Ammunition at an approx. cost of Rs 6,000 crore under the Buy & Make (Indian) category, the ministry added.
The Indian Navy’s plans to build the six new submarines come as China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy has embarked on major expansion plans to build a Blue Water Navy, that is, to project power beyond its traditional areas. According to some estimates, its submarine fleet comprises as many as 66 craft, both conventional and nuclear.
The US Congressional Research Service predicted last year that China would build nearly 70 new warships by 2030, which would push the total number of its battleships to 420. The US naval fleet was estimated to have 355 ships during the same time frame.
According to the Indian defence ministry, the Indian Navy has 150 ships and submarines with another 50 under various stages of construction.
Tags: #IndianNavy #submarines #Defenceministry #defencecouncil #China #IndianOcean #pakistan
