MDL submits bid for over Rs 20,000 crore project to build 3 new Kalvari class submarines
Dec 13, 2023
By Ajit K Dubey
New Delhi [India], December 13 : In a significant development, the state-owned Mazagon Dockyards Limited has submitted its response to the Defence Ministry tender for building three new Kalvari class submarines for the Indian Navy.
Senior defence sources told ANi that the bids by the PSU have been received by the Defence Ministry for the mega project, which will be built indigenously in Mumbai in partnership with the French firm Naval Group.
India has already inducted five of the six Kalvari class also known as the Scorpene class submarines it ordered in 2005 from France and the sixth one is likely to be inducted next year.
The Project 75 Additional Submarines was cleared by the government in a Defence Acquisition Council meeting in July this year, along with 26 Rafale Marine fighter jets.
The submarines have performed as per the expectations of the Navy and the force wants the submarines to be inducted at the earliest.
Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar has also instructed officials to squeeze the timeframe to complete the procedures for beginning the construction of the boats in the Indian shipyard, the sources said.
The MDL has already constructed six Scorpene submarines, five of which are already in service. The sixth one is likely to be commissioned in early 2024. The Indian Navy's fifth stealth Scorpene class submarine, INS Vagir, was commissioned into the Indian Navy in January this year.
The Kalvari class submarines are extremely potent platforms, they have advanced stealth features and are also equipped with both long-range guided torpedoes as well as anti-ship missiles.
