Tendering proposal for the Indian Navy’s Rs 50,000-crore plan for building six new hi-tech conventional submarines, delayed by over three years now, has been put up before the nation’s defence highest decision-making body for approval.
The plan will be taken up by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) anytime now for approval. But this will come a bit late, considering that the Navy has lost its operationally best submarine, INS Sindhurakshak, on Wednesday. India’s diesel-electric submarine fleet strength is now precariously low at 13 vessels after Sindhurakshak’s loss.
“The proposal has gone to CCS,” Defence Minister A K Antony said to a query from Express on the fate of the tender for the six new submarines under Project 75I.
The proposal had got its first in-principle approval, for what is called in defence parlance as Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), from Antony-headed Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in July 2010.
Since then, AoN has expired twice and fresh approvals were accorded by DAC. The July 2010 AoN expired in July 2012, when it was approved for the second time. Again, it was given a nod for the third time earlier this year.
“The earlier two AoNs lapsed because the tender (or Request for Proposals/RfP in defence parlance) was not issued within the approved periods. Fresh AoN approvals have been obtained. The RfP must be given out to global submarine manufacturers within a couple of months of the CCS approval,” Navy sources said.
After the first AoN in July 2010 for Project 75I, the Indian Navy issued a Request for Information (RfI) in September 2010 to obtain knowledge of what is available in the market. Some of the global firms that responded to RfI are Russian Rosoboronexport, French DCNS/Armaris, German HDW and Spanish Navantia.
The Project 75I submarines, whenever they are built, will come with the latest technology — Air Independent Propulsion — that would enable the vessels to remain submerged underwater for more days than a conventional submarine that has to surface for air frequently and hence could be vulnerable to detection by enemy anti-submarine warships, aircraft and helicopters.
India is already building six conventional Scorpene submarines under Project 75 at Mazagon Docks and these vessels are already delayed by three years.
The first of the Scorpene vessels, built under licence from the French firm DCNS, is expected to be delivered to the Indian Navy only by 2015.
That apart, India-built nuclear-powered submarine, Arihant, will leave the Visakhapatnam naval shipbuilding centre for sea trials in the Bay of Bengal later this month, following its successful harbour-acceptance trials and its nuclear reactor going critical last week.