French company Naval Group on Tuesday said it is unable to participate in India’s P-75I project, under which six conventional submarines are to be built domestically for the Indian Navy, because of the Request for Proposal (RFP) related to the Air Independent. ) mentioned in the terms and conditions. propulsion (AIP) system.
The announcement of the naval group comes a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris, where he is to meet the recently re-elected French President Emmanuel Macron. The AIP system allows a conventional submarine to remain submerged in water at high speed for a long time.
In June last year, the Defense Ministry had approved the P-75I project and subsequently, RFPs were issued to two shortlisted Indian companies – private company Larsen & Toubro and state-run Mazagon Docks Ltd.
two Indian companies [called strategic partners] Will have to tie up with one of the five shortlisted foreign companies – ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (Germany), Navantia (Spain) and Naval Group (France), Daewoo (South Korea) and Rosoboronexport (Russia) – and then respond to the RFP. to the Ministry of Defense.
The contract worth ₹43,000 crore will be awarded by the Defense Ministry after a detailed evaluation of the responses sent by the two strategic partners.
Laurent Video, Country and Managing Director, Naval Group India, said in a statement on Tuesday, “Due to certain conditions in the RFP, the two strategic partners could not forward requests to us and certain other FOEMs (foreign original equipment manufacturers). We have not been able to place an official bid for the project.”
Naval Group has always been ready to offer best in class and customized solutions for the Indian Navy’s P-75I project, fully compliant with Atma Nirbhar Bharti theory, he said.
“However, the current RFP requires that the fuel cell be AIP (air independent propulsion) sea proven, which is not yet the case for us because the French Navy does not use such a propulsion system,” he said.
Nevertheless, the Naval Group strengthens its existing commitments and looks forward to closer cooperation with India, he said.
“Our focus and efforts are with the Indian industry in realizing the vision of the Government of India by supporting the Indian Navy for other future developments and projects (maintenance, hi-tech equipment, indigenous AIP, Incremental Improvements in Scorpene Design Submarine, Heavy) We are looking forward to continuing our cooperation with heavy torpedoes, larger ships etc.), “he said.
India is one of the largest importers of arms globally.
The Center wants to reduce dependence on imported military platforms and is promoting domestic defense manufacturing.