Project-75 (India), simply referred to as the P-75(I) program, is a military acquisition initiative affiliated to India's Ministry of Defence (MoD), aimed at the planned procurement of diesel-electric submarines for the Indian Navy (IN). Originally conceived in 1997, the initiative's objective has been to procure a class of six conventionally-powered attack submarines for the Indian Navy Submarine Arm, as a replacement for the force's Sindhughosh-class submarines.
The program has experienced multiple delays owing to hurdles emanating from bureaucratic red tape, inadequate planning and a lack of corporate competitiveness, causing longstanding delays to the program's timeline, which has consequently led to intense criticism.
Originally planned to enter operational service in the late-2020s, the six submarines are now expected to be delivered by the mid-2030s. In January 2025, initial negotiations for the purchase-cum-manufacturing of six submarines designed by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems in partnership with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders have commenced, with approval from the MoD expected soon. As of July 2025, the commercial and technical terms of the contract is expected to be finalised soon.
Background
Design selection 2008–10 In 2008, the IN issued a request for information (RFI) to multiple naval firms, namely, Armaris, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), Rubin Design Bureau and Navantia to inquire about a possible acquisition of submarines equipped with specific features.
In July 2010, the P-75(I) initiative received its first official in-principle approval, termed an Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), from the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) - the MoD's apex body on arms acquisitions. The DAC, then chaired by minister of defence A. K. Antony, had originally planned to build three of the six submarines at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and one at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) with foreign assistance whilst procuring the remaining two submarines directly from a foreign vendor or from a private Indian shipyard, at a total budget of INR . However, the Indian Navy, which preferred the participation of private shipyards over public ones, disagreed with the DAC's plan. The difference in opinion between both parties over the initiative's path led to a two-year period of stagnation, during which the AoN expired twice.
2011–16 The MoD refreshed the AoN in 2013.
In October 2014, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) revived the initiative under a new mandate to build all six submarines in India with foreign assistance at an estimated cost of . Alongside MDL and HSL, two state-run shipyards - Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and two private shipyards - Larsen & Toubro Shipbuilding (L&T) and Pipavav Shipyard Limited, were invited to participate in the bidding process. The clearance was provided along with the Swimmer Delivery Vessel midget submarine programme of the Navy.
Strategic Partnership policy In May 2017, the DAC introduced a unique set of regulations for the procurement of specific sets of weaponry, titled the Strategic Partnership (SP) policy. Under the policy, an Indian private sector firm appropriately sanctioned beforehand by the MoD would have to ally with a foreign original equipment manufacturer (OEM), also sanctioned by the MoD, to contract-manufacture particular articles of weapons, including submarines. Accordingly, in any arm acquisition process sanctioned under the SP policy, the foreign OEMs would be shortlisted by the MoD on the basis of qualitative requirements, while the Indian firms would be shortlisted on the basis of technical, financial and infrastructure-related parameters. Post the selection process, the Indian firm would have to partner with the OEM to compete in the competition's bidding process; the alliance which quotes the lowest price would be declared the winner of the competition.
2017–19 In June 2017, the MoD announced that the P-75(I) initiative would be the first-ever arms acquisition project to be progressed under the SP policy.
In July 2017, the MoD issued a Request for Information (RFI) to six international arms majors for the construction of six submarines under the project. The RFI was issued to Rosoboronexport (Russia), Navantia (Spain), Saab (Sweden), ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (Germany), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) and Naval Group (formerly French DCNS). Out of the aforementioned six, only Navantia and Mitsubishi failed to respond within the deadline.
The project's AoN expired for a final time in February 2018.
In January 2019, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) re-approved the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) of the construction of six submarines under the “Strategic Partnership” model at a cost of over .This was the third time that the acquisition project was cleared after 2010 and 2014.
In April 2019, the IN issued an expression of interest (EOI) to the foreign vendors with the objective of seeking a submarine with the capability of firing land-attack missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles. Likewise, a similar EOI was also issued to four domestic companies: MDL, L&T, Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited and a consortium of HSL and Adani Defence.
Later that year, in June 2019, Daewoo Shipping & Marine Engineering (formerly DSME, today Hanwha Ocean) was allowed to partake in the competition as a late entrant; at the time, the EOI had already expired. Navantia too responded late to EOI in July 2019; despite the firm's belated response, the move indicated its reinterest in the project.
However, in September 2019, Saab announced that it would withdraw from the competition, stating that the SP policy placed more control over the construction of the submarines to the Indian partner than to the OEM; the firm argued that both responsibility and liability of the deal should lie with the OEM. Saab's withdrawal left the remaining five firms as the only contestants in the program; all five would be shortlisted by the MoD as strategic foreign partners in 2020.
Shortlisting (2020) In January 2020, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) shortlisted two Indian shipyards and five foreign firms as the finalists in the project: MDL and L&T were chosen as the Indian finalists, while DSME, Naval Group, Navantia, TKMS and Rubin were chosen as the five foreign finalists. A year later, in July 2021, the MoD formally issued an RFP to the finalized contestants for the construction of the six submarines; however, due to the document's stringent conditions, the deadline of the RFP, which was initially scheduled for November 2021, was postponed to June 2022, and later again, to December 2022.
Foreign contenders The five foreign firms shortlisted by the MoD in January 2020, are
:- (Status: Disqualified in July 2021; withdrew in April 2022) Naval Group: Offered a diesel-electric variant of the nuclear attack submarine. Was also reported to have simultaneously offered an enhanced variant of the . :- (Status: Qualified, as of July 2024) ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems: Offered an enlarged 3000 t version of the Type 214 submarine. Had partnered with Mazagon Dock Limited for manufacturing in India. :- (Status: Withdrawn, as of June 2023) Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering: Offered a 3000 t variant of the KSS-III submarine, designated as the DSME-3000. :- (Status: Disqualified in July 2021; withdrew in February 2022) Rubin Design Bureau: Offered an export variant of the , designated as the Amur-1650. :- (Status: Disqualified, as of January 2025) Navantia: Offered the S-80 Plus submarine. Had partnered with Larsen & Toubro Shipbuilding for manufacturing in India.
Local shipyards The two Indian shipyards shortlisted by the MoD, are
Larsen & Toubro Shipbuilding: Has assisted in the development and construction of the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, since 2009. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited: Currently manufacturing six Scorpène-class attack submarines, under P-75, of which five have been delivered. The company was also involved in the licensed production of two Type 209/1500 attack submarines, between 1984 and 1994.
Post-shortlisting delays (2021–22) In July 2021, MDL issued an RFI to the five foreign contenders with the objective of seeking a partner that possessed a functional AIP system, which had been tested and proved on operational submarine. Unfortunately, three of the five contenders, namely, France, Russia and Spain, did not possess any functional submarine equipped with a sea-proven AIP system, which led to them being disqualified from the competition. The disqualification of the aforementioned three thus left the remaining two contestants, Germany and South Korea, as the only ones with the eligibility to partake in the competition. Several observers defended MDL's AIP requirement, pointing out that the IN did not have an indigenously developed AIP in operational service and that the prospect of conceding to construct the P-75(I) submarines without AIP technology would be a retrogressive step.
In August 2021, TKMS withdrew from the program, citing an incapacity on its part to satisfy several conditions of the RFP, specifically the liability and technology transfer clauses in particular. TKMS complained about a "lack of flexibility" in the tender, arguing that the liability clause - which stipulated that the selected foreign firm would be identified as the sole responsible party for the submarines' construction - was too stringent. TKMS's decision to withdraw from the competition thus left DSME as the sole remaining contestant, which created a "single-vendor situation" - a condition in which only one firm would be able to comply with conditions of a multi-party competition, creating an atmosphere of non-competitiveness. The development thenceforth plunged the future of the program into uncertainty, as the MoD would have been compelled to scrap the tender to avoid such a non-competitive climacteric, in accordance with its 2020-issued defence-acquisition guidelines.
In February 2022, Rosoboronexport - Russia's state-controlled intermediary agency responsible for the export of the country's military equipment, announced that it had decided to withdraw from the competition, stating that it lacked the ability to comply with the RFP's requirements. However, the firm proposed a compensatory offer of Kilo-class submarines, which entailed the sale of upgraded Project 636 Kilos and already-decommissioned Project 877 Kilos as interim option to replenish the IN's submarine fleet. Russia's JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation previously made a similar offer to the IN in April 2020, offering to sell three refurbished Kilos.
In April 2022, Naval Group announced that it too would withdraw its participation, stating that it could not comply with the tender's parameters, which called for the supply of a fuel-cell AIP system.
Faced with the dual instances of either the foreign contestants being disqualified or withdrawing on their own accord, the MoD resorted to postpone the deadline of the tender thrice - from November 2021 to June 2022, then to December 2022 and again to August 2023. The deal was then expected to cost .
Revival
2023 In February 2023, German and Indian sources reported that Germany had intended to resume its pursuit of the submarine deal, which was then-valued at $5.2 billion, during a two-day visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to India. Notably, Scholz was also accompanied by Martina Merz, the CEO of ThyssenKrupp, who was part of the delegation which accompanied him during the visit. Soon after, The Hindu, an Indian daily-outlet, reported that Germany had planned to present a proposal to India for the sale of six submarine via an inter-governmental route. The report further stated that TKMS, which was in talks with L&T, had decided to partner with MDL.