German-Indian JV emerges as sole contender for $5 billion India submarine deal

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders

23/01/2025 14:38

By Shivam Patel
       NEW DELHI, Jan 23 (Reuters) - German shipbuilder
ThyssenKrupp and its Indian partner have cleared field trials
for building six advanced conventional submarines for the Indian
Navy, according to an exchange filing, emerging as the sole
contender for the $5 billion project.
    Their potential rival, Spanish state-held shipbuilder
Navantia, which partnered with India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T)
 LART.NS , could not meet the navy's requirements in trials held
in 2024 for testing key technologies, an Indian defence source
said.
    The project is crucial to India's effort to modernise its
military and boost its naval capabilities in the face of China's
growing presence in the Indian Ocean region.
    ThyssenKrupp's Indian partner, state-owned Mazagon Dock
Shipbuilders Ltd  MAZG.NS , said in an exchange filing on
Thursday that its field trials for the project were successful
and the Indian defence ministry had invited the company for
commercial negotiations next week. 
    The defence ministry, L&T and its submarine partner did not
respond to requests for comment.
    A key requirement for the project was air-independent
propulsion (AIP) technology, which would allow the
diesel-electric attack submarines to stay underwater for over
two weeks. A conventional submarine without AIP technology would
have to surface every few days to charge its batteries. 
    Currently, the 17 conventional submarines operated by the
Indian Navy do not have AIP technology, which India's neighbours
China and Pakistan have, according to nonprofit Nuclear Threat
Initiative.
    Analysts say the project for the six new submarines has been
delayed by more than a decade, with the first of them now
expected three to five years after a contract is agreed. 
    About half of India's conventional submarines have undergone
multiple upgrades and retrofits over the past few years and are
nearing the end of their productive lives.
    ($1 = 86.5025 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((Shivam.Patel@thomsonreuters.com;))