Mega submarine deal: Russian official says project design is good but implementation in India problematic

After pulling out of the Indian Navy’s tender for the construction of six advanced submarines under Project-75I, Russia on Monday said that it cannot meet the 'unrealistic' terms and conditions for the over ₹40,000 crore project.

A senior Russian official said that without any changes in the entire process, the deal cannot move forward, reported The Hindu.

Speaking at the inaugural day of the Army-2022 expo, Andrey Baranov, Deputy Director General, Rubin Design Bureau said, “The requirement stated in the Request For Proposal (RFP) demanded very strict timelines and a lot of responsibility to the designer. At the same time, designer has no control over the construction, which happens in India." “We are the first ones to leave the project and the last one we know to leave the project is France,” he said.

Baranov raised concerns over the implementation of the project in India. He said that the design of the project is 'very good' but the implementation "is not so good" as the requirements specified by the Indian Navy and the arrangement for this are not matching. He also noted that the key part of the RFP is that construction will be done in India and if the timelines are not met, the “penalties are very high”.

In July, the ministry of defence had once again extended the deadline to submit responses from June 30 to December 2022, reported The Hindu. The Indian Navy had also reportedly sought relaxation in certain specifications laid down by the government stating that they have made most submarine manufacturers non-compliant.

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Project-75(I) requires indigenous construction of six modern conventional submarines with contemporary equipment, weapons and sensors, including Fuel-Cell based Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system, advanced torpedoes, modern missiles, and state-of-the-art countermeasure systems.

The Navy currently has 15 conventional and one nuclear submarine in service.