Reliance Defence Plans Shipbuilding Facility in Andhra
India's Reliance group announced a tie up with Andhra Pradesh government for building a strategic shipyard on the eastern seaboard of the country, which will be co-located with strategic facilities of the Indian Navy and Department of Atomic Energy. The facility is said to be co-located with the Indian Navy’s base and BARC’s nuclear facility at Rambilli, approximately 70 Km south of Visakhapatnam. The new facility would complement the company’s existing facility at Pipavav in Gujarat, with a clear focus on building strategic assets for the Indian Navy. Ambani also urged on the need for development in critical areas of naval defence capability in the region in order to compete with the world.
India to Lease New Nuclear Submarine from Russia
India is in final talks with Russia to lease a new nuclear attack submarine, giving a much needed boost to its depleting underwater fleet, the Times of India reported. A decision, according to Indian analysts, will be taken during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in Ufa. The Modi-led government is looking to lease a newly built, customized submarine, unlike in the past when older vessels were refurbished and handed over to India. India has the 'Chakra 2' Akula class nuclear submarine in service that is considered to be one of the deadliest non-US attack boats in the world. This submarine - a refurbished Soviet era boat - has been taken on a 10-year lease from Russia in 2012.
Pipavav, L&T Shortlisted for India's $9.5 billion Submarine Deal
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Pipavav Defense & Offshore Engineering have won $9.5 billion contract to build six diesel submarines with Air Independent Propulsion System (AIP) technology for Indian Navy, says government of India sources. According to highly-placed sources, a high-level committee headed by vice-admiral Subhedar, which had inspected both public and private shipyards to shortlist candidates to issue the request for qualification (RFQ) for Project 75i, in its final presentation to the ministry of defence (MoD) last week, selected the two private sector shipyards — L&T’s Katupalli yard and Pipavav unit. “Project 75i, as we call it, is for purchasing six next-generation submarines with air independent propulsion (AIP) system for the Indian Navy over the next seven-eight years.
