Progress
In 2008, the Indian Navy issued a Request for Information (RFI) to multiple naval conglomerates - Armaris (now Naval Group), HDW and Rosoboronexport for six submarines with air-independent propulsion (AIP) and land-attack capability, that were to be built in India. [7] [8]
In July 2010, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) - the MoD's top arms acquisition body, decided to import two submarines, build three at Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) and one at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), with a budget of INR ₹50,000 crore (equivalent to ₹950 billionorUS$12 billion in 2020). [9] After the project was approved by the DAC in August 2010, an RFI was issued again in September 2010. [10] [11] However, the RFP was not approved by the CCS due to conflicting opinions between the Indian Navy and the MoD, over the involvement of privately-owned shipyards in the project. Consequently, the approval lapsed and was renewed multiple times till 2013. [12] [13]
In October 2014, the DAC decided to construct all six submarines in India and approved a budget of INR ₹53,000 crore (equivalent to ₹720 billionorUS$9.0 billion in 2020). [2] Along with the state-owned MDL, HSL, and Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), privately-owned L&T Shipbuilding and Pipavav Shipyard (R-Naval) were allowed to bid for the project in collaboration with a foreign shipyard. [14]
In 2017, the Indian Navy issued another RFI, to Naval Group, Rosoboronexport, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), Saab Kockums, Navantia and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). [15] Out of the aforementioned six - only Naval Group, Rosoboronexport, TKMS and Saab responded, while Navantia and Mitsubishi failed to respond within the deadline. [16] [17]
In June 2017, it was reported that the contract for construction would be awarded under a "Strategic Partnership" (SP) policy, which would eliminate state-owned shipyards from contention. [18] After the approval lapsed in February 2018, the DAC renewed the approval with a budget of INR ₹40,000 crore (US$5.0 billion) in January 2019. [19] [20]
In April 2019, an Expression of Interest (EOI) was issued for six submarines capable of firing land-attack missiles (LAM) and anti-ship cruise missiles. [21] In June 2019, South Korea's Daewoo Shipping & Marine Engineering (DSME), was allowed to enter the project, after the EOI had expired, in response to a late invitation extended by the MoD, thus making a late entrance into the competition. [22] [23] Navantia responded to the EOI in July 2019, affirming the company's re-entrance into the competition (after their absence from the RFI issued in 2017). [24] [25] Shortly after, in September 2019, Saab withdrew from the competition, citing concerns about the rules defined in the "Strategic Partnership" policy. [23] Saab's withdrawal left five firms as the only contestants in P-75I - Naval Group, Rosoboronexport, TKMS, Navantia and DSME; the five firms were later officially shortlisted as the finalists of the competition, in 2020. [26]
Shortlisting
On 21 January 2020, the Government of India (GoI) shortlisted two Indian shipyards - Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), as the two Indian finalists in P-75I. [27] Concurrently, the GoI also shortlisted five foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), as finalists in P-75I - ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) of Germany, Rubin Design Bureau of Russia, Navantia of Spain, Naval Group of France, and Daewoo Shipping & Marine Engineering (DSME) of South Korea. [26] The two Indian shipyards respectively, would have to collaborate with the five foreign shortlisted OEM's, for competing in the project. [28]
On 20 July 2021, the MoD formally issued an RFP for the construction of the six designated submarines, worth ₹43,000 crore (US$5.4 billion), under the "Strategic Partnership" model. [29] [30] Nevertheless, the deadline of the RFP, which was initially scheduled for November 2021, was postponed to June 2022, and later again, to December 2022. [31]
Indian Navy 
