Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), a state-owned entity, and Germany's Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) have been selected as the winners of the Indian Navy's high-value contract to produce six advanced conventional submarines in India, featuring the latest stealth technology.
A competing bid by Indian private company Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Spanish firm Navantia did not meet the technical criteria for a proven air-independent propulsion (AIP) system, a key requirement for the Project 75 India (P75I) submarine initiative.
In April of the previous year, ThePrint reported that TKMS was seen as the leading contender for the massive contract when an Indian Navy team traveled to Germany to assess the AIP system.
The deal, projected to exceed Rs 70,000 crore—far surpassing the Rs 43,000 crore threshold established by the defense ministry in the Acceptance of Necessity (AON) for the project—will involve TKMS designing a completely new submarine tailored to India's specific needs.
This design will be handed over to the Indian Navy, which will then use it to build its own indigenous submarine under Project 76.
Sources indicated that once the mandatory 45-day period for potential challenges has passed, MDL's bid will be opened and cost negotiations will begin for the formal contract. However, this means there will be no price discovery for the mega project.
The first submarine under P75I is expected to be delivered within seven years of the contract's signing. If the contract is finalized tomorrow, the first submarine would be ready by 2032 at the earliest.
The Indian Navy reportedly submitted its field evaluation trial (FET) report to the defense ministry late last year, confirming that TKMS' submarine met the necessary technical standards.
However, L&T and the Spanish government argued that they had also met the required criteria and adhered to Navy protocols. In response, the defense ministry established a three-member technical oversight committee, chaired by a Rear Admiral, with an Air Commodore and a Brigadier serving as members, to ensure the proper procedures were followed.
Earlier this month, the committee submitted its findings, confirming that all protocols were properly followed. Subsequently, the defense ministry concluded that the L&T-Navantia bid did not meet the technical requirements.
MDL-TKMS Triumphs Over L&T-Navantia
Under this deal, the Navy will acquire six new conventional diesel-electric submarines equipped with AIP (Air-Independent Propulsion) technology, enabling the vessels to remain submerged for extended periods—at least two weeks—rather than surfacing every two or three days to recharge their batteries.
However, during the field evaluation, neither Germany nor Spain could provide a proven AIP system that met the size and capacity specified in the Navy's request for proposal (RFP) document.
TKMS, on the other hand, had a reliable AIP system already installed in over 60 Type 214 submarines, although its size and capacity were smaller than the Indian Navy's requirements. Given that it was a proven system, sources indicated that the company only needed to scale it up to fit the Indian Navy's need for a 3,000-ton displacement, compared to the 2,100-ton displacement of the Type 214.
In contrast, Navantia lacked a fully operational, sea-tested AIP system. While its AIP plant has been installed on the third S-80 class submarine for the Spanish Navy, the vessel is not set to be commissioned until 2026.
Therefore, Navantia demonstrated its AIP through a combination of land-based and onboard systems for the field evaluation test, which had completed 50,000 hours of testing. However, the Indian Navy concluded that this did not satisfy the requirement for a sea-proven AIP system.
The P75I project is part of a 30-year submarine-building program that concludes in 2030. Originally, the plan was to construct 24 conventional submarines, but under the Narendra Modi government, this was revised to 18 conventional submarines and six nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) to enhance deterrence capabilities against China and Pakistan.
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