Hindustan Shipyard Ltd waits for Ministry of Defence's policy to bid for P-75 (I)
Visakhapatnam: Vizag-based Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL) has to wait for a few more months to submit bids to bag the Indian Navy's Rs 64,000 crore project to build 6 futuristic submarines as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had put the project on hold to decide on ‘strategic partnership’ policy. The MoD is in the process of finalising a strategic partnership policy for tie-ups with foreign technology partners to take up defence-related projects. HSL, along with Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), Cochin Shipyard, and private L&T Yard and Pipavav Yard, were shortlisted by a high-powered committee appointed by the MoD to award the project. The shortlisted yards will be asked to submit their financial bids. They can tie-up with foreign yards to build these submarines.
HSL had formed a consortium with BHEL and Midhani to build these submarines. The consortium jointly stake claim with the MoD for being considered as a prospective bidder for the proposed P-75 (I). HSL being located at Vizag and having been brought under the administration control of MoD for building strategic vessels has created a pool of contractors for submarines repairs. HSL already spent around Rs 50 crore to create special infrastructure for submarine repairs.
Vizag has a vast pool of trained contractors already engaged in construction of submarine Arihant and repair of 877 EKM class submarine at HSL and also the naval dockyard. “We are awaiting the release of MoD’s new policy of strategic partnership. We were asked to wait for such a policy to be finalised to submit our bids for P 75 (I). As soon as the new policy is released we will submit our bids,” said HSL CMD, Rear Admiral (Retd) L.V. Sarath Babu.
Sweden’s Saab Kockums, with its A26 submarines, Spain’s Navantia S-80 class Russia’s Rubin Design Bureau’s Amur 1650 boats, French DCNS with its Scorpene platform, German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems with its HDW Type 214 submarine, have shown interest in the project to build these submarines with Indian shipyards, under Make in India. HSL had already signed an MoU with Hyundai Heavy Industries in January for technical collaboration to take up defence projects. A team from HSL, led by N.K. Mishra, has visited South Korea to sign the MoU.
A team from HHI had also visited Vizag's shipyard to assess the facilities here twice. The HHI team led by its vice-president and COO Jeong Hwan Kim visited HSL in July last year.
