In a major boost to indigenisation, the Government on Tuesday floated a global tender for the construction of six submarines in the country. These submarines will be built under the Strategic Partnership (SP) model wherein Indian manufacturers will tie up with foreign builders for production here. The deal is worth over Rs 50,000 crores.
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in June this year had approved the floating of the tender. The public sector Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and private player Larsen & Toubro were selected for the mega project.
They will now tie up with the foreign original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to build the diesel-powered submarines within the country. Five global giants are in the race for bagging the big-ticket deal.
Giving details of the latest order, Defence Ministry officials said here on Tuesday that the Government has issued a Request of Proposal (RFP) or tender for the first acquisition programme under the SP model for the construction of six air independent propulsion (AIP)-fitted Conventional Submarines named Project 75 (India) [P-75(I)].
The RFP was issued to shortlisted Strategic Partners (SPs) or Indian Applicant Companies for the project Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
Project-75(I) envisages indigenous construction of six modern conventional submarines (including associated shore support, engineering support package, training and spares package) with contemporary equipment, weapons and sensors including Fuel-Cell based AIP, advanced torpedoes, modern missiles and state of the art countermeasure systems.
This would provide a major boost to the indigenous design and construction capability of submarines in India, in addition to bringing in the latest submarine design and technologies as part of the project, officials said.
Post receipt of responses to the Expression of Interest (EoI), shortlisting of potential Strategic Partners (SPs) and Foreign OEMs was undertaken. The shortlisted SPs to whom the RFP has been issued would be collaborating with any of the shortlisted Foreign OEMs like Naval Group-France, TKMS-Germany, JSC ROE-Russia, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd-South Korea and Navantia-Spain.
These five foreign firms are the world leaders in the field of conventional submarine design, construction and all other related technologies. The foreign OEMs will be the technology partner in the SP Model.
Foreign OEMs will enable SP for construction of submarines, achieving high levels of indigenisation, and Transfer of technologies (ToT) for various technologies. These OEMs would enable setting up of dedicated manufacturing lines for these submarines in India by providing ToT for submarine design and other technologies and make India the global hub for submarine design and production, they said.
The project would not only aid in boosting the core submarine and ship building industry but would also greatly enhance manufacturing and industrial sector.
