Indian MoD Shortlists Five Shipyards For $10 Billion Advanced Submarine Contract

The Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) appointed committee has shortlisted five shipyards out of seven to compete for the INR 64,000-crore (US $10 billion) project to build six advanced submarines for the navy.

Mazagon Dock, Cochin Shipyard, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Hindustan Shipyard and Goa Shipyard - and two in the private sector - Larsen and Toubro and Pipavav have been selected for the submarine project P-75i.

The project is one of the costliest projects under the Make in India program and is expected to scale up the Indian Navy’s undersea warfare capabilities.

The selected shipyards will have to submit bids to build submarines in partnership with a foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) of their choice.

DCNS Scorpene, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems HDW Type 214 (Germany), Rubin Design Bureau Amur 1650 (Russia), Navantia S-80, Saab Kockum A-26 are contentious OEMs that have shown interest in the project so far.

Already, six Scorpene submarines are being built at the Mazagon Dock Ltd with technology from DCNS under a INR 23,562 crore (US $3.7 billion) project called P-75. But the first of these will be ready only by late 2016, almost five years behind schedule.