NEW DELHI — Only private shipyards will receive a tender to make six air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarines if the Defence Ministry follows the recommendations of an expert committee, an MoD source said.
The US $12 billion tender will be sent to private yards Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering and Larsen & Toubro, the source said.
Indian Navy's $12 billion tender to acquire six Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) enabled submarines,, will only be sent to domestic private sector shipyards- Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company (cq) and Larsen &Toubro (L&T) Ltd. (cq) , if the recommendations of an expert committee currently assessing capabilities of all shipyards to construct submarines , are accepted, said a Ministry of Defense (MoD) source.
The Navy An expert committee of the Indian Navy, headed by Vice Adm. A.V. Subhedar, controller of warship production and acquisition, also assessed state-owned Hindustan Shipyard and Mazagon Docks. He made his remarks during his first presentation to the MoD this month.
Controller of Warship Production & Acquisition of Integrated Headquarters Vice-Admiral A.V. Subhedar after assessing state owned Hindustan Shipyard Ltd. (cq) , Mazgaon Docks Ltd. (MDL) (cq) , and private sector L&T Ltd. and Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company made these observations during the first presentation to the MoD last week.
While the committee is expected to give its final recommendations to the MoD only next month, the observations made by members during their presentation cannot be easily ignored by the MoD, the source said, because the Indian Navy wants a time-bound delivery of submarines to add to its falling strength.
The committee members said that, while the state- owned shipyards have both the capability and capacity to build submarines, they should not be involved in the competition of the forthcoming tender under Project 75. The state-owned yards I to build conventional submarines with (AIP) because they (state owned) have their hands full with excessive orders and have poor delivery records of delivery. For example, the French Scorpene submarine being built Mazagon Docks MDL is already behind scheduled by more than over four years.
In comparison, private sector shipyards Pipavav and L&T have the capability and capacity and can delivery give quickly delivery compared to state owned shipyards where decision making is slow, the committee members said in their presentation.
Out of the two approved private sector shipyards, Pipavav Defence has no experience of manufacturing submarines but has have a technology tie-up with DCNS of France. L&T while Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been involved with homemade nuclear submarine Arihant. (cq).
The MoD is now preparing to issue a fresh rquest for proposal (RFP) in the "Buy and Make (India)" category, which is reserved only for domestic companies that can who can further tie up with overseas shipyards.
In October, the government of The Narendra Modi (cq) government in October 2014 reversed an earlier proposal to float a global tender for the submarines under which two were to be purchased bought straight off from the overseas shipyards while the remaining four submarines would have been built by only in state-owned shipyards.
At the time of floating of a global Request for Information (RFI) in 2010-which has now been scrapped by the Modi government, DCNS of France, Russia with its Rubin Amur 1650 submarine and HDW of Germany with Type 214, Spain's Navantia with its S-80 submarines had evinced interest in the program.
The IndianNavy urgently needs new submarines because its nine Nine of Russian-made Kilo-class subs and four HDW-class submarines it operates are nearing their 25- year point, life after which they become could be risky to operate them. One of the Kilo-class submarines was gutted in a 2010 after it got engulfed in a fire and ordered for scrap.
An Indian Navy officials said in private that by cancelling the global bids for Project 75I in October, 2014 the new government has "hit itself on the foot as the exuberance to 'Make in India' will further delay acquisition of weaponry, seriously affecting the combat worthiness of the Indian defense forces."
With the MoD is still undecided on whom to invite in the competition, and with the select committee recommending only private sector shipyards, the project could get complicated and controversial.
That's because the timing of the buyout of Pipavav by as the timing of buy out of Papavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company by Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (cq) coincides with the committee's assessment, said retired Navy Cmdr. of the Select Committee to invite only private shipyards, says Ashish Pathak ( cq) retired Indian Navy Commander.
Email: vraghuvanshi@defensenews.com
Vivek Raghuvanshi is the India correspondent for Defense News.
