The project for the construction of submarines costs over Rs 40,000 crore (Representational)
The Centre today issued a formal tender for the indigenous construction of six submarines for the Indian Navy. This comes in line with the government's push towards "Make in India" in the defence sector. The project costs over Rs 40,000 crore.
This will be the first project under the strategic partnership model that allows domestic firms to produce high-end military platforms in India in collaboration with foreign players, reports said.
The Defence ministry on Tuesday issued a request for proposal for the first acquisition programme to the shortlisted strategic partners, according to an official release. The project was cleared about a month ago.
According to the ministry, the formal tender was issued to the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), who will have to collaborate with any of the five shortlisted foreign shipyards -- Daewoo Shipbuilding (South Korea), ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (Germany), Navantia (Spain), Naval Group (France) and JSC ROE (Russia).
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had last month approved the issuance of the request for proposal (RFP) for the acquisition programme.
The six modern conventional submarines are to be fitted with contemporary equipment, weapons and sensors including fuel-cell based air independent propulsion plant), advanced torpedoes, modern missiles and state of the art countermeasure systems, according to a press release.
This would provide a major boost to the indigenous design and construction capability of submarines in India, besides bringing in the latest submarine design and technologies as part of the project, it added.
The project aims at building indigenous capabilities in the public/private sector in the manufacturing of complex weapon systems for the future needs of the country's armed forces, according to the government.
The release said the project will be an important step towards encouraging self-reliance and aligning the defence sector with the “Make in India” initiative of the government.
The Indian Navy, which currently has 15 conventional submarines and two nuclear submarines, planned to acquire 24 new submarines, including six nuclear attack submarines, to bolster its underwater fighting capability under a 30-year programme that will end in 2030, reports said.