By A Correspondent

New Delhi: India is likely to shelve its plan to construct three additional French-origin Scorpene submarines at Mumbai’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), as the government pushes ahead with the far more advanced INR 70,000 crore Project-75 India (P-75I) involving six new German-origin stealth submarines.

According to senior government sources, while cost negotiations for the three additional Scorpenes, estimated at around INR 36,000 crore, were completed in the last fiscal year, the final approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the Prime Minister, has been put on hold.

“The project is not being pursued now,” recent media reports said, quoting an unnamed official, adding that the German submarines, to be built in collaboration with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), are considered “a generation ahead” in technology.

The decision stems from both technological and logistical considerations. MDL, India’s premier submarine-building yard, would face significant challenges managing two complex submarine production lines simultaneously.

The three additional Scorpenes were initially intended to supplement the six Kalvari-class boats built under the original INR 23,000 crore Project-75 agreement signed with France in Oct. 2005.

Under Project-75, MDL has already delivered six Kalvari-class submarines — INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, INS Vela, INS Vagir, and INS Vagsheer — the last of which joined the Indian Navy earlier this year.

These vessels are set to receive upgrades with the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) indigenously developed Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) system, enhancing underwater endurance by allowing the submarines to stay submerged for up to two weeks without surfacing for oxygen.

The upcoming P-75I submarines, however, will feature integrated AIP systems from the outset, along with land-attack cruise missiles, enhanced stealth capabilities, and advanced automation. Official contract negotiations between MDL and TKMS began last month, following extensive deliberations between the Ministry of Defence, Indian Navy, and the National Security Council Secretariat.

“The new-generation submarines will come with design transfer of technology (ToT) and up to 60% indigenous content,” a defence official said. “This project will also serve as a bridge to Project-76, where India aims to design and build future conventional submarines entirely indigenously.”

Despite the apparent setback for the Scorpene line, officials noted that India’s strategic partnership with France remains robust. Paris continues to be a key defence collaborator, with two major joint ventures.

Both the INR 61,000 crore programme to co-develop a next-generation fighter jet engine with French aerospace firm Safran for India’s fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), and the proposed government-to-government deal for additional Rafale fighters under the Indian Air Force’s INR 2,00,000 crore Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft project are advancing, officials said.

The Indian Navy, meanwhile, remains concerned about its dwindling underwater fleet, currently consisting of six Scorpenes, six aging Russian Kilo-class, and four German HDW submarines, besides two nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

The threat landscape in the region continues to intensify. China operates over 60 submarines, including 10 nuclear-powered ones, and is supplying eight AIP-equipped Yuan-class submarines to Pakistan, marking a significant boost to Islamabad’s maritime strike capability.

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