Germany has always followed a traditional approach while dealing with India; however, owing to the several changes that have happened in the recent past, it is, for the first time, offering a military deal under the government-government umbrella for its new-generation conventional submarines with exceptional underwater endurance.
In the past, the German government had always made a distance from contracts being bagged by its arms industries in India, but now, the HDW 214 submarines are being offered as a special case for Indian Navy's requirement of six boats. These will be made in India and would cost around Rs 60,000 crore.
As per sources, the formal proposal is being shared with the Indian defence ministry, under which the German government will be assuring about fair price, technology transfer and quality.
The mega P 75I project is also seeing participation from the Russian and French submarines. For this project, India will be mandating Air Independent Propulsion (AIP). It’s a technology that would make the submarine able to remain underwater for several days at a stretch, as against the usual practice of coming up to surface frequently so that oxygen needed to burn the fuel can be replenished.
"The offer has certain assurances that the product will meet Indian requirements," an official involved in the process told ET.
As per the German company Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, which would be manufacturing the submarine, it "is not in a position to comment on talks between the governments of the two nations", but said it was interested in offering its 214 class boats with "robust transfer of technology, training and meeting offset obligations". "We define this as a 'no-holds barred' transfer of technology in line with Modi government's 'Make in India' push," the company spokesperson said in response to a detailed questionnaire by ET.
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