Project 75I

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Context

Germany is expected to present a proposal to India for the sale of advanced conventional submarines through the government-to-government route.
The Navy, which is staring at a dwindling sub-surface fleet, is looking to procure six advanced diesel-electric submarines under Project-75I estimated to cost over ₹45,000 crore.

Background

In January 2020, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) shortlisted Mazgaon Docks Ltd. (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) as the Indian partners for the P-75 deal, the first to be processed under the strategic partnership model of the procurement procedure.
The five foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEM) are Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (South Korea), Naval Group (France), Navantia (Spain), Rosoboronexport (Russia) and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS, Germany).

About P-75I

The Project 75 (India)-class submarines, or P-75I, for short, are a planned class of diesel-electric submarines, which are to be built for the Indian Navy.
The P-75I class is a follow-on of the P-75 class submarines of the Indian Navy.
Under this project, the Indian Navy intends to acquire six conventional, diesel-electric attack submarines, which will also feature advanced capabilities - including air-independent propulsion (AIP), ISR, special operations forces (SOF), anti-ship warfare (AShW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW), land-attack capabilities and other features.
All six submarines are expected to be constructed in India, under the Make in India initiative.

History

In 1997, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) approved a plan to acquire 24 submarines under Project 75.
After the Kargil War in 1999, the Cabinet Committee on Security approved a 30-year submarine building plan, that called for two parallel production lines, each constructing six submarines.
The older Project-75 (P-75) was brought under the new plan, with the two production lines to be built under P-75 and P-75I using transfer of technology (ToT) from different foreign manufacturers.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q) Project ‘P-75I’ will not only be a game changer for Indian Navy but also lead to the indigenisation of defence products. Discuss. (250 words)