Boost to Make-in-India as Germany may jointly build six submarines

With 11 of its 16 conventional submarines being more than two decades old, India aims to replace its ageing fleet and also looking for partnerships with the countries that have capabilities to build modern submarines.

Indo-German defence relations are going deeper, especially after the visit from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to India on February 25-26. According to the sources who are privy to the discussions between the two countries, Germany is willing to do a deal worth $5.2 billion with India to jointly build six conventional submarines.

The reports are telling that since India is overtly dependent a lot on the Russian supplies of defence products, Western countries are willing to go the extra mile and bring India to their camp. This could not be done without defence cooperation. Therefore, the countries are willing to bring defence partnerships including the submarine manufacturing.

Since India aims to replace its ageing submarine fleet as 11 of its 16 conventional submarines are more than two decades old, it is also looking for partnerships with the countries that have capabilities to build modern submarines. The latest talks with Germany are an indication that the European nation could be the next partner.

Germany's TKMS shows interest

Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) is one of two international bidders that are interested in jointly building submarines with India. As per the negotiation details under the deal, the company could partner with an Indian company for joint development of the submarine in India. This is also meant to boost India's own defence production capabilities.

Additionally, since India aims to do a complete deal wherein even technology transfer is done by the bidding foreign company, the German company will be required to do transfer of a niche technology for fuel-cell based Air Independent Propulsion (AIP). According to some defence experts, AIP could be a triggering issue for the Western companies as they rarely agree to it.

For instance, earlier France's Naval Group could not agree for the joint development of submarines with India as according to it the terms and conditions were difficult to comply with. Other competitors like Russia's Rosoboronexport and Spain's Navantia Group, according to reports, are not in race anymore. Therefore, only the German company TKMS is going to win the contract.

The Russia factor

Germany's defence capabilities could be extremely useful for Indian defence as that would also bring diversity and reduce dependability only on one nation. Moreover, since Germany is more than interested in meeting India's defence requirement it is obvious that India may consider the submarine deal in coming months.

Lastly, as German officials admit that India is dependent on Russian arms for a good part and it is not in their interest that this remains the case, Germany may wholeheartedly do the joint manufacturing of submarines without questioning the terms and conditions.