Germany hopeful of bagging Indian Navy's Rs 50,000 crore submarine project

NEW DELHI: Hopeful of bagging the Rs 50,000 crore project of the Indian Navy for building six conventional submarines, Germany has said that it has offered some "pretty convincing" business offers to the Indian government for cooperation in the defence sector.

German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner said the P-75(I) project was under discussion and that the matter also came up during German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen's visit here last month.

"They did not talk about how this deal should be done... whether this should be Business-to-Business or Government-to -Government. But as our Minister said, from these talks, it was a clear sign that there is potential for cooperation in this field (defence) and also in the field of submarines," he said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event here last night.

German defence major TKMS is offering India its HDW Class 214 vessel and is in talks with leading shipyards in the country for a tie-up.

The Germans are also promising a no-hold barred transfer of technology in line with the Narendra Modi government's 'Make in India' push.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had set up a special committee for the project to identify the shipyards in the country that have the capability and the capacity to build the six submarines. These shipyards will then tie-up with a foreign firm.

Besides the public shipyards, the private players include L&T and Pipavav, in which Anil Ambani-led Reliance group has bought controlling stake. The committee is expected to submit the report soon.

After the Indian government announced a G2G deal with France for 36 Rafale jets, the Germans are hopeful that a deal can be struck faster than earlier.

India currently operates four HDW Type 209 submarines and the first was inducted way back in 1986.

Asked about the Rafale deal, Steiner said European economies are so interwoven that if a French company has an economic success, it is very much in German interest as well.