New Delhi April 26 (IANS) Belying talk of involving the private sector in defence production the government is all set to award the $8 billion advanced submarine order to the public sector Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) on a "nomination basis".
Well-placed Defence Ministry sources told IANS that an announcement in this regard is expected soon.
Under what is known as the "Project-75 India" programme MDL in collaboration with Naval Group of France will build six advanced submarines.
MDL already has a partnership with the French firm under which it is currently building six Scorpene-class submarines - a project worth $3.75-billion.
Under the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar "Project-75 India" was supposed to be rolled out under the Strategic Partnership policy segment of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) of 2016 which would have been a boon for private sector shipbuilders like Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Naval and Engineering.
But with new Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman overturning the decision and granting "Project-75 India" to MDL on a "nomination basis" both these companies already in the red and struggling with almost non-existent order books will suffer a severe blow.
The decision comes soon after French President Emmanuel Macron s visit to India when he was believed to have pushed for the project with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Request for Information (RFI) document for "Project-75 India" was issued in 2016 and the government received responses from four companies or conglomerates: the French Naval Group ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems of Germany SAAB of Sweden and Rubin Design Bureau-Amur Shipyard a Russia-Italy collaboration.
In 2017 the Defence Ministry drafted Expressions of Interest (EoI) for private shipyards in India for selection as a strategic partner -- a move that was said to be aimed at creating efficient submarine-building capabilities in the private sector.
The six advanced submarines are equipped with API or air-independent propulsion technology and a vertical missile launch system. API allows these submarines to stay underwater for longer periods.
--IANS
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