Indian MoD issues RFP for six diesel-electric submarines for IN

India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued a request for proposals (RFPs) to two domestic shipyards on 20 July for the construction of six diesel-electric attack submarines (SSKs) for the Indian Navy (IN) under a project valued at about INR430 billion (USD5.77 billion).

The classified RFP for Project 75(I) (P-75I) requires state-owned company Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and private-sector firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) to enter into strategic partnerships (SPs) with one of five foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) designated by the MoD to build the SSKs ahead of bidding for the tender.

The OEMs are Naval Group (France), ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (Germany), Rubin Design Bureau (Russia), Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (South Korea), and Navantia (Spain).

IN sources told Janes that no trials will be undertaken ahead of awarding the P-75(I) tender, and that both Indian vendors would submit their respective technical and commercial bids within the 12-week deadline specified in the RFP.

Thereafter, the lowest bidder will be shortlisted after which commercial negotiations, including platform delivery schedules, would be initiated, with a deal expected to be signed around 2023. Senior naval officials said it would then take between five and six years before the first SSK enters IN service.

The P-75(I) programme, which was first approved by the MoD in November 2007 and then again in June 2022, would be India's first such project under the SP category of the MoD's Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020.