India’s Mazagon Dock, Germany’s TKMS win mega submarine deal

TDT | Agencies

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India’s state-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) have been selected as the winners of the Indian Navy’s multi-billion dollar contract to build six new conventional submarines equipped with advanced stealth technology.

The bid submitted by Indian private firm Larsen and Toubro (L&T) in partnership with Spanish firm Navantia was unsuccessful, failing to meet the technical requirements for a proven air independent propulsion (AIP) system, a crucial component of the Project 75 India (P75I) submarine program.

Reports from April last year had already indicated TKMS as the likely frontrunner, following a field evaluation of their AIP system by an Indian Navy team in Germany.

The contract, estimated to exceed Rs 70,000 crore (considerably more than the Rs 43,000 crore benchmark initially set by the defence ministry), will see TKMS design a new submarine tailored to Indian Navy specifications. This design will then be transferred to the Indian Navy for indigenous production under Project 76.

Sources indicate that after a mandatory 45-day period for potential challenges to the decision, MDL’s bid will be formally opened, and cost negotiations for the contract will commence. This process, however, will forgo a standard price discovery mechanism for the project. The first submarine under P75I is projected to be delivered seven years after the contract is signed, meaning the earliest possible delivery would be 2032.

The Indian Navy’s field evaluation trial (FET) report, submitted to the defence ministry late last year, concluded that the TKMS submarine met the required technical standards.

While L&T and the Spanish government contended that their bid also met the criteria, a three-member technical oversight committee, constituted by the defence ministry and comprising a Rear Admiral, an Air Commodore, and a Brigadier, confirmed that due process had been followed and ultimately upheld the decision that the L&T-Navantia bid did not meet the necessary technical requirements.

The P75I project aims to procure six new conventional diesel-electric submarines with AIP technology, enabling them to operate underwater for extended periods—at least two weeks— without the need to surface for battery recharging every few days.

During the field evaluations, neither Germany nor Spain could present a fully operational AIP system meeting the exact size and capacity specified by the Indian Navy in its request for proposal.

However, TKMS presented a proven AIP system already integrated into over 60 Type 214 submarines, although its size and capacity were smaller than the Indian Navy’s needs. Due to its proven track record, TKMS only needs to scale up the existing system to meet the Indian Navy’s requirement for a 3,000-tonne displacement submarine, compared to the 2,100-tonne displacement of the Type 214.