Govt issues RFP for the six AIP submarines under P-75I

The Defence Ministry said the project is for six Air-Independent Propulsion or AIP-fitted conventional submarines. AIP allows submarines to stay underwater longer than the conventional diesel-electric propulsion systems.

Kickstarting the formal process for building six conventional submarines indigenously under the Project 75 India or P-75I, the government issued a Request for Proposal (RPF) to the two selected Indian Strategic Partners (SP) on Tuesday. The two Indian shortlisted companies are Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), who will have to bid for the project in partnership with one each of the five foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM).

The Defence Acquisition Council had approved the issuing of the RFP on June 4. The project is worth Rs 43,000 crore and will be the first, across services, under the strategic partnership model, which was promulgated in 2017 to boost indigenous defence manufacturing.

The Defence Ministry mentioned in a statement on Tuesday that the project is for six Air-Independent Propulsion or AIP-fitted conventional submarines. AIP allows submarines to stay underwater longer than the conventional diesel-electric propulsion systems.

“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 & sensors including Fuel-Cell based AIP (Air Independent Propulsion Plant), 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,” the Defence Ministry stated.

It noted that the shortlisted SPs can collaborate with any of the five shortlisted OEMs, which include Naval Group of France, TKMS of Germany, JSC ROE from Russia, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd of South Korea and Navantia from 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 indigenization, and (Transfer of Technology) for various technologies.”

The SPs will bid in partnership with one OEM each, which will 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”.

The RFP, it said, “has key features like mandatory level of indigenous manufacture of platforms, ToT for design/ manufacture/ maintenance of submarines and a few critical equipment and systems, setting up of an eco-system in India for such indigenisation and incentivisation for other key technologies, etc.”

The project, the statement mentioned, will boost the core submarine/ship building industry and enhance the manufacturing/ industrial sector along with the ecosystem for associated spares/ systems/ equipment.

“The overall aim would be to progressively build indigenous capabilities in the public/private sector to design, develop and manufacture complex weapon systems for the future needs of the Armed Forces,” the ministry said, adding that it will “be an important step towards meeting broader national objectives, encouraging self reliance and aligning the defence sector”.

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