TSAMTO, May 6. According to Indian media, the French company Naval Group announced on May 3 that it would not be able to participate in the tender for the supply of the Indian Navy of the NPL in the framework of the "Project 75I" (P-75I) due to the requirement specified in the request for proposals related to the air-independent power plant (AIP).
Naval Group's announcement was made a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Paris. The AIP system allows a non-nuclear submarine to stay underwater for a longer period of time.
In his statement, the regional director of Naval Group India, Laurent Videau, pointed out that "due to certain conditions in the request, both Indian strategic partners were unable to send a request to us and several other foreign original equipment manufacturers. Therefore, the company was unable to submit an official application for participation in the project."
According to him, Naval Group was ready to offer the best solution for the P-75I project, fully consistent with the principles of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat. However, the request requires that the fuel cell AIP be tested at sea, which the French company cannot do yet, since the French navy does not use such a power plant.
As reported by TSAMTO, in June last year, the Indian Ministry of Defense approved the implementation of the P-75I project. In July 2021, the Ministry sent requests for proposals for the supply of six air-independent fuel cell powerplants to two shortlisted "strategic Indian partners": Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Tubro (L&T).
Indian companies can cooperate with any of the foreign original equipment manufacturers included in the "short list": French Naval Group, German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), JSC Rosoboronexport, South Korean Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Spanish Navantia.
Foreign manufacturers will act as a technology partner in the strategic partnership model. They will assist an Indian contractor in the construction of an NPL with a high level of components of national production and ensure the transfer of various technologies. This will make it possible to create production lines for the construction of submarines in India, to obtain technologies for designing submarines and related equipment, making the country a world center for the development and production of submarines.
The contract has an estimated value of 430 billion. The Rs will be awarded by the Ministry of Defense after evaluating the responses provided by two "strategic Indian partners".
