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in India,” the official notes. It could take another
10 years for the first submarine to be inducted,
he adds. The goal is to produce 24 conventional
submarines by 2030 (now been reduced to 18).

Indigenous Shipbuild Goal [ COLUMN ]
According to reports, the MoD has already
identified two Indian strategic partners with
submarine-building experience —Mazagon
Dockyards Ltd (MDL) on India’s west coast and
Larsen &Toubro (L&T) on the east coast—to
collaborate with selected OEMs. The strategic
partner has to ensure a minimum of 45 per cent
indigenisation in five of the submarines and at
least 60 percent indigenous content in the sixth
one. Several OEMs including the French Naval
Group, German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp
Arming Spain’s Navantia and South Korea’s Daewoo
Marine Systems, Russia’s Rubin Design Bureau,

Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd are
expected to show keen interest in the bidding
process.
Deep Down Return of Akula to Russia

The decision to float the tender comes amid
the early return of Navy's only nuclear pow-
ered attack submarine, the 8,140-tonne INS
Chakra, to Vladivostok, Russia where she is
being returned approximately 10 months prior
to the expiry of her 10-year lease that cost India
IF ALL GOES WELL, INDIA WILL SOON KICK- approximately US$2 billion. A submarine of the
START ITS MUCH DESIRED SUBMARINE Russian Akula-2 Class, Chakra was commis-
CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME sioned into the Indian Navy on April 4, 2012
and was based in Visakhapatnam. She was the
second nuclear-powered submarine acquired
by India from Russia bearing the name Chakra.
Jay Menon
However, INS Chakra will be replaced by an
advanced variant, which will also be christened
Almost two decades after it was first envisaged, India has decided Chakra. A US$3 billion deal was signed in March
to float a formal tender for the Project 75 India (P75I), under which 2019 for a 10-year lease for the new submarine,
six conventional submarines will be built in the country. The Ministry the delivery of which is expected by 2025. The
of Defence (MoD) is expected to soon issue requests for proposal Indian Navy currently has two nuclear subma-
(RFP) for the INR430 billion submarine deal from foreign shipyards. rines— the indigenously built INS Arihant and
The RFP, for the first time, will also seek strategic partnership bids INS Arighat. India is also building two more
for building the conventional diesel-electric submarines with air Arihant-class vessels at Visakhapatnam with
independent propulsion (AIP) systems. This is the second proj- Russian assistance. The Indian Navy entered
ect being undertaken under the latest Strategic Partnership (SP)
Model, with the first being the procurement of 111 Naval Utility
Helicopters (NUH).

Largest Make in India Programme
“This would be one of the largest ‘Make in India’ projects and will
serve to facilitate faster and more significant absorption of tech-
nology and create a tiered industrial ecosystem for submarine
construction in India,” an MoD official informs. “If all goes well, the
country will be able to achieve its much desired and delayed sub-
marine construction programme envisioned by the government to
acquire national competence in submarine construction and for the
Indian industry to independently design and construct submarines

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