The Indian Navy is all set to issue the tender worth Rs 50,000 crores to develop six more advanced conventional submarines as the Defence Ministry is expected to discuss the project at a high-level meeting.
“The high-level meeting would be discussing the project and is scheduled to take up the draft request for proposal for clearance after which the tender can be issued to the strategic partners,” government sources told ANI. The named P-75 has been in the making for a long time now and would be the successor to the Scorpene or Kalveri class submarines being built at the Mazagon Dockyards Limited in partnership with France.
The Indian Navy has already identified and cleared MDL and Larsen and Toubro as the strategic partners that can tie up with five global manufacturers including French Naval Group, German TKMS, South Korean Daewoo, Spanish Navantia, and Russian Rosoborboexport, sources said.
The Navy plans to procure 24 new submarines, including six nuclear attack submarines, to strengthen its underwater fighting capability. It currently has 15 conventional submarines and two nuclear submarines.
The maritime forces have stated its requirements for the submarines to be equipped with heavy-duty firepower as it wants the boats to have at least 12 Land Attack Cruise Missiles (LACM) along with Anti-Ship cruise missiles (ASCM). The Navy has also specified that the submarines should also be able to carry and launch 18 heavyweight torpedoes in the sea.
