A preliminary agreement or memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed when the German delegation led by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius arrives in Mumbai on Wednesday, June 7..
New Delhi: A German submarine maker and Indian public sector company Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) are set to join hands for manufacturing six next-generation stealth conventional submarines at a cost of $5.8 billion (Rs 42,000 crore), a special report bby Ajay Banerjee, in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
Ought to do more in Indo-Pacific
“I think we should and we can and we ought to do more in that region (Indo-Pacific) in a partnership with India. Because we are approaching times when we cannot really predict what is going to happen in the next few years”, said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.
A preliminary agreement or memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed when the German delegation led by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius arrives in Mumbai on Wednesday, June 7..
Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) of Germany and MDL are likely to join hands and bid for the project, sources say.
The TKMS is one of two global manufacturers to have air independent propulsion (AIP) — technology that helps a submarine stay underwater for a longer duration. India had sought an operational AIP that would allow a submarine to remain underwater for five or six days before clearing the deal.
Pistorius, who arrived in Delhi on Monday, June 5, held a bilateral meeting with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, “Both ministers reviewed the bilateral defence cooperation activities and explored ways to enhance the collaboration, particularly defence industrial partnership.”
Rajnath Singh highlighted opportunities in the defence production sector, including possibilities for German investments.
“The Indian defence industry can participate in supply chains of the German defence industry… share strengths of skilled workforce and competitive costs from India while technologies and investment could come from Germany,” the MoD said.
India and Germany have a strategic partnership since 2000. The submarine deal, if it goes through, will be significant.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, “Both ministers reviewed the bilateral defence cooperation activities and explored ways to enhance the collaboration, particularly defence industrial partnership.”
India is looking to have a foreign manufacturing partner to design, develop and build submarines domestically. The project includes engineering support package, training and spares package with contemporary equipment, weapons and sensors.
India wants the foreign company to do full transfer of technologies (ToTs) for the submarines, including design and development.
In late 1980s, India had sourced four submarines from Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) of Germany. Two of these were made at MDL in 1992 and 1994. The other two came from Germany. The HDW has since been taken over by the TKMS.
As of now, India has 16 conventional and one nuclear submarine, much less than the envisaged plan drawn out in 1999 that spoke about having 24 conventional submarines by 2030.
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