India-German Relations: Germany has once again come forward for India’s submarine program P75I. This project of the Government of India has been in limbo for a long time. Under this project, India wants to build six Scorpene class attack submarines domestically. For the first time in 1997, the Cabinet Committee on Security had approved this project for the replacement of Sindhughosh class submarines. According to this, submarines were to be operational by the year 2020, but it could not start even in the year 2024.
According to Eurasian Times, in the year 2020, the Indian government had shortlisted two shipyards and five foreign defense companies for the P75I. During this period, Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) were nominated for indigenous construction. In 2021, MDL seeks partners with an air independent propulsion. During this period, three contenders – Naval Group (France), Rosoboronexport (Russia), and Navantia (Spain) were excluded. In such a situation, only two companies were left, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) from Germany and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) from South Korea. On the other hand, TKMS raised some issues and decided to withdraw from the program, after which the project once again got stuck in limbo.
Now once again German company TKMS has shown interest in this project. During his visit to India in June 2023, the German Defense Minister once again showed curiosity about this submarine program. During this, he advocated TKMS in a conversation with the Defense Minister of India. Also stressed the potential of the submarine deal to become a major project between the two countries. In January 2024, Germany proposed a deal to the Indian government for the supply of six advanced conventional submarines to India under the P75I.
German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann extended full support to the negotiations between TKMS and the Indian Navy for the P75I. Philip expressed Germany’s commitment to work together with India to build high-tech submarines. Apart from this, Germany has relaxed export restrictions with India in April 2024. According to the report, TKMS and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) have started work on the first phase for the submarine design. It is said that Germany is offering its SDW class Dolphin submarine based on the AIP system to the Indian Navy.