NEW DELHI: India’s ambitious 43,000 crore Project 75i to build a line of conventional submarines with air independent propulsion (AIP) appears to have run aground. Although the deadline for submission of bids is next month, Naval Group and Spain’s Navantia pulled out some time ago. Incidentally neither have an operational AIP.
The German firm ThyssenKrupp Marine has raised objections to the high level of indigenous content demanded by India and the unlimited liability on the foreign partner. At this point, South Korea’s Daewoo seems to be the only one in contention although there are reports it wants changes to the RFP.
In this conversation on StratNewsGlobal, Amit Cowshish, former adviser acquisitions in the Ministry of Defence, wonders why the navy has been insisting on AIP, which is both expensive and adds to the weight of the submarine, when it is not widely used. He also believes the defence ministry bureaucracy must be asked why it pushed a “strategic partnership” model when the buy global make local framework is already there.
Tune in for more in this chat with Amit Cowshish on Project 75i.
