Highest priority to augmenting fleet, says Admiral Dhowan
The Navy’s plans to augment its submarine fleet under two different programmes continue to be delayed due to the incomplete Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 though the Navy Chief says these projects have been accorded the highest priority.
The progress of two crucial projects — a tender for a new line of submarines under Project-75 I and torpedoes for Scorpene submarines already under construction — hinges on guidelines under the new DPP, which technically came into effect on April 2 but without the crucial guidelines on strategic partnerships and new blacklisting norms.
“The P-75 I has been given the highest priority by the Navy and the Ministry. It is at the moment with the Ministry of Defence …” Navy Chief Admiral R.K. Dhowan said on Monday to questions on the issue on the sidelines of a joint Navy-FICCI seminar on ‘Make in India’.
Make in India
Project-75 I, expected to cost over Rs. 60,000 crore, will be one of the first projects awarded to the private sector to build submarines with foreign collaboration under the Make in India initiative.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had earlier said that the chapter on identifying strategic private sector partners was going “through an extensive exercise that will take another month or two” and it required approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security. It intends to identify major private sector companies eligible to take a lead role in various critical defence platforms.
On the other hand, Kalvari, the first of the Scorpene submarines being built in Mumbai, is scheduled to be commissioned in September this year but it will be without torpedoes, its primary weapon.
The Navy’s plans to augment its submarine fleet under two different programmes continue to be delayed due to the incomplete Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 though the Navy Chief says these projects have been accorded the highest priority.
The progress of two crucial projects — a tender for a new line of submarines under Project-75 I and torpedoes for Scorpene submarines already under construction — hinges on guidelines under the new DPP, which technically came into effect on April 2 but without the crucial guidelines on strategic partnerships and new blacklisting norms.
“The P-75 I has been given the highest priority by the Navy and the Ministry. It is at the moment with the Ministry of Defence …” Navy Chief Admiral R.K. Dhowan said on Monday to questions on the issue on the sidelines of a joint Navy-FICCI seminar on ‘Make in India’.
Make in India
Project-75 I, expected to cost over Rs. 60,000 crore, will be one of the first projects awarded to the private sector to build submarines with foreign collaboration under the Make in India initiative.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had earlier said that the chapter on identifying strategic private sector partners was going “through an extensive exercise that will take another month or two” and it required approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security. It intends to identify major private sector companies eligible to take a lead role in various critical defence platforms.
On the other hand, Kalvari, the first of the Scorpene submarines being built in Mumbai, is scheduled to be commissioned in September this year but it will be without torpedoes, its primary weapon.
