The central government has given the green signal to the ‘Project 75 India (P-75i)’ worth Rs 70,000 crore after being stuck for more than six months. Along with this, the Ministry of Defense and the Majhgaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) have received approval to start formal conversations to create modern submarines with the Thesekroop Marine Systems (TKMS) of Germany. According to the report by news agency ANI, this conversation can begin by the end of this month.
What is Project 75 India?
Project 75i is an important part of India’s maritime security strategy. Under this project, six submarines will be constructed in India in collaboration with Germany. In January this year, the Ministry of Defense selected the Majgaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) as a strategic partner for this project. The goal of the government and the Navy is to complete the negotiations in six months and take it to the final approval.
All six submarines will be equipped with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system. This technique will enable submarines to stay underwater for about three weeks. The objective of this project is to increase India’s indigenous submarine manufacturing capacity and reduce dependence on imports.
China and Pakistan will get a challenge
According to ANI report, there was a high -level meeting before this decision. In this meeting, top officials of the Ministry of Defense and Navy discussed the outline of the Indian Navy submarine fleet.
Experts believe that this step of India becomes very important due to the increasing activism of China and Pakistan. China is rapidly modernizing its naval fleet and its presence in the Indian Ocean is continuously increasing. Pakistan is also strengthening its submarine capacity.
In such a situation, there is pressure on India to implement its submarine manufacturing and modernization schemes faster. According to reports, in the coming 10 years, India is planning to exclude its about 10 old submarines in a phased manner. In such a situation, P-75i and other indigenous projects are considered very important.
Nuclear submarine program
Apart from P-75i, the Government of India is also working on the Nuclear Attack Submarine (SSN) program. In this, the private sector main company Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has to play a big role, which will work with the Navy’s Submarine Building Center. The government is looking for an alternative to pursue both these projects rapidly.
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