New Delhi The Defence Ministry has issued the request for proposal (RFP) or the formal tender to domestically build six conventional submarines for the navy at a cost of over Rs40,000 crore, over a month after the mega acquisition project was cleared.

The RFP was issued to the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the two Indian companies shortlisted following a long-drawn process, according to the defence ministry. Both L&T and MDL will have to collaborate with one of the five already short-listed foreign shipyards -- Daewoo Shipbuilding (South Korea), ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (Germany), Navantia (Spain) and Naval Group (France) and JSC ROE (Russia). "These five foreign firms are the world leaders in the field of conventional submarine design, construction and all other related technologies. The foreign OEMs (original equipment maker) will be the technology partner in the SP model," the defence ministry said.

"Foreign OEMs will enable SP for construction of submarines, achieving high levels of indigenization, and transfer of technology (ToT)," it said in a statement. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) last month approved the issuance of the request for proposal (RFP) for the acquisition programme named Project-75(I). The ministry said the OEMs would enable the setting up of dedicated manufacturing lines for the submarines in India by providing ToT for submarine design and other technologies and make India the global hub for submarine design and production.

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