Day Ahead of PM Narendra Modi's Visit, France Backs Out of Key Submarine Project

French shipbuilder Naval Group confirmed it is opting out of India’s $5.6 billion P-75I submarine project, a day before PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the country.

During his three-day Europe trip, Modi will first meet with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. He is set to meet recently re-elected French President Emmanuel Macron on May 4.

Naval Group cited conditions mentioned in the request for proposal (RFP) related to air independent propulsion (AIP) system as the reason for non-participation in the project. The AIP system allows a conventional submarine to stay submerged in water at higher speeds for a longer period of time.

The Indian defense ministry cleared the P-75I project in June 2021 and issued RFPs to two shortlisted Indian companies or ‘strategic partners’ – private company Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and state-run Mazagaon Docks Limited (MDL). These two companies were asked to tie up with one of the five shortlisted foreign companies - ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (Germany), Navantia (Spain) and Naval Group (France), Daewoo (South Korea) and Rosoboronexport (Russia) - and then respond to the RFP.

In a statement May 3, Laurent Videau, Country and Managing Director, Naval Group India, said, "Due to certain conditions in the RFP, the two strategic partners could not forward the request to us and few other FOEMs (foreign original equipment manufacturers) and thus we have not been able to place an official bid for the project."

He added that the company has “always been ready to offer the best in class and adapted solution for Indian Navy's P75I project.”

"However, the present RFP requires that the fuel cell AIP be sea proven, which is not the case for us yet since the French Navy does not use such propulsion system," he mentioned.

Under the P-75 project, the company recently completed the construction of six Kalvari class (Scorpene-class) conventional submarines in collaboration with MDL in India.

The P-75 project began in 2005 and four of the six submarines have already been commissioned into the Indian Navy. The sixth in the series was unveiled last month and is set to be commissioned in late 2023.