Submarine project gets Centre’s nod

Setting in motion yet another big-ticket Make-in-India project, the Defence Ministry on Thursday issued an “Expression of Interest” (EoI) in order to shortlist “strategic partners” for constructing six diesel-electric submarines at a cost of about Rs 45,000 crore at an Indian yard.

After a gap of about two weeks, another EoI will be issued for the foreign vendors, who will supply the technology.

The original equipment manufacturers and strategic partners will subsequently discuss and submit a joint bid to the Defence Ministry in a sealed cover. The bid has to clear the technical and financial gateways before a commercial pact is signed and construction starts.

In January, the Defence Acquisition Council, headed by Nirmala Sitharaman, approved the construction of six submarines under Project 75-I at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore. Six months down the line, the cost has increased by Rs 5,000 crore and likely to rise more by the time the commercial agreement is inked.

Notwithstanding cost, the submarines are urgently needed for Navy, which is saddled with depleted fleet of 16 underwater boats, out of which 13 are old diesel-electric submarines.

In July 2017, the Defence Ministry issued a “request for information” to six international arms majors for construction of these submarines. All of them responded.

“The Indian companies in collaboration with OEMs have been mandated to set up dedicated manufacturing lines for these submarines in India. The project would not only aid in boosting core submarine and ship building industry but also enhance manufacturing sector,” a defence ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

Once the first set of six submarines are made, the navy would have the option to manufacture six more submarines under the project.

The Indian firms are to respond to the EoI within two months following which they would be shortlisted based on capability. The OEMs would be shortlisted primarily based on their submarine design meeting Navy’s qualitative requirements.