New Delhi: India has moved a step closer to finalising the long-pending mega project to acquire six new diesel-electric submarines for the Navy, with the opening of the commercial bid submitted by the Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks (MDL) in partnership with German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS).
The defence ministry will now begin techno-commercial negotiations with MDL-TKMS for ‘Project-75 India‘ to build the six stealth conventional submarines, with both land-attack cruise missiles and air-independent propulsion (AIP) for greater underwater endurance, sources said on Thursday.
This, in effect, means that the German-origin submarine has emerged the winner over its Spanish rival, for which L&T had tied up with the Navantia ship-building company. Though the project’s initial cost was estimated to be Rs 43,000 crore when the “acceptance of necessity (AoN)” was granted several years ago, it will be around Rs 70,000 crore now. “It will be the task of the MoD’s contract negotiation committee (CNC) to arrive at a reasonable cost,” a source said.
This comes after the ministry of defence’s (MoD) technical oversight committee held the MDL-TKMS bid was “compliant” as per the technical parameters laid down in the tender, while the L&T-Navantia was “non-compliant” in the competition. The committee cleared the field evaluation trials conducted by the Navy last year, during which the German submarine demonstrated “a fully-functional” AIP system at sea. The Spanish submarine, however, could not exhibit a sea-proven AIP system.
AIP gives a diesel-electric submarine the stealth capability to remain underwater for around two weeks, unlike a boat without it that has to surface or ‘snorkel’ every couple of days to get oxygen to recharge its batteries. It will, of course, take time for the actual P-75I contract to be inked, with the delivery of the first submarine slated for six-seven years after that, the sources said.
MDL, of course, is also gearing up for construction of another three French-origin Scorpene submarines with AIP at a cost of around Rs 38,000 crore. The PM-led cabinet committee on security is set to clear the deal before this fiscal ends on March 31, as earlier reported by TOI.
These three new boats will add to the six Scorpene or Kalvari-class submarines already built at MDL, without AIP, under the over Rs 23,000 crore ‘Project-75’.Both P-75 (additional Scorpenes) and P-75I are crucial for the Navy because it is left with just six old Russian Kilo-class and four German HDW submarines in its conventional underwater fleet, apart from the six new Scorpenes.