Indian Navy Deal: India is planning a major boost to its Navy by adding powerful submarines in the coming years. As problems grow in the Indo-Pacific region and China’s Navy keeps getting bigger, India wants to be ready. With China becoming more active in the Indian Ocean and Pakistan also working on its naval power, India is preparing its most serious and advanced defence plan ever.
The defence ministry is likely to give a big contract to Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) by the end of the next financial year. This contract is a key part of Project-75I, which will take India’s submarine strength to a higher level. India now has 16 regular submarines, and the newest one, INS Vagsheer, was recently added through the earlier Project-75. That earlier project included six Kalvari-class submarines, which are now seen as the most important underwater weapons in India’s defence system.
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At the same time, the Navy also added a new warship called INS Tamal. This ship was made with help from Russia and has the deadly BrahMos missile, making the surface fleet even more powerful. But even though this shows progress, officials feel India still needs to speed up defence work. Curretnly China’s Navy has 355 ships and submarines, making it the largest in the world. Pakistan is also growing its submarine force with help from China.
India Teams Up with Germany for New Submarine
To keep up with these growing threats, India is moving fast on Project-75I. The country plans to sign a huge Rs 70,000 crore contract soon to build six modern submarines with new stealth and engine systems. MDL will build these submarines in partnership with Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). The design will be based on the HDW Class 214, and these subs will use Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology. This tech lets the submarine stay under the sea for up to two weeks without coming to the surface.
These submarines will be 72 metres long and weigh 2,000 tonnes. Each one will carry eight weapon tubes and have room for a 27-member crew, reported News 18. The AIP system creates electricity using a chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, so the engine stays silent and hard to detect.
The contract will also help grow India’s defence skills. The first submarine will have 45% Indian-made parts, and this will go up to 60% by the sixth one. Germany will share their technology, which will allow India to build more submarines on its own in the future. The first submarine is expected to be ready seven years after the deal is signed, and the rest will follow every year.
At the same time, the Indian government is also getting ready to clear another big deal worth Rs 36,000 crore. This one is to build three more advanced Scorpene-class submarines. These new ones will be based on the Kalvari design but with improvements. They will also have 60% Indian parts and will look similar to the submarines made for Brazil. The first submarine under this plan will be ready in six years, and then the next two will come out one by one each year.
India is also working hard to use more local technology. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has made its own AIP system. In December 2024, the government signed a deal worth Rs 1,990 crore with MDL to put this system into the current Kalvari-class submarines. The first one to get it will be INS Kalvari during its big repair in September 2025.
In another deal, India is spending Rs 877 crore to buy special heavyweight torpedoes from France. These will be added to the Kalvari submarines and make them more powerful under the sea.
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Stronger Navy by 2035
These huge defence projects will not just help the Navy they will also create jobs and grow the local defence industry. The AIP program alone will give about three lakh man-days of work. MDL is already working with more than 50 Indian companies, and the Naval Group from France is training 70 Indian engineers in new submarine tech.
Right now, MDL has the ability to build 11 submarines and 10 destroyers at the same time. It has already proven its strength by completing all six submarines in the earlier Project-75. India’s bigger plan is to have a 175-ship Navy by the year 2035. At present, India has more than 130 naval ships, and 61 new warships are already being built.
