India and Germany are poised to conclude the long-pending Project-75I submarine agreement in the near future, with German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann expressing confidence that the deal could be finalised as early as next month.
The proposed agreement, estimated at 8 billion euros (over Rs 90,000 crore), will pave the way for the construction of six next-generation conventional submarines in India for the Indian Navy.
Speaking on the sidelines of an industry event hosted by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC), Ackermann expressed confidence that the submarine deal would be finalized in the next few weeks.
The Project-75I program is anticipated to be carried out through a collaboration between Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and India’s state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders.
The agreement seeks to bolster the Indian Navy’s conventional submarine fleet by enabling domestic construction under a technology partnership..
According to the media reports TKMS Type 214 will form the basis of the joint country project.
The TKMS Type 214 is a modern diesel-electric attack submarine that features Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology.
Created by Germany’s Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), the design merges the hull features of the Type 209 series with the fuel cell propulsion technology employed in the Type 212A.