L&T partners with Russia for upgrading Kilo class submarines

Off lately, the complex field of underwater warfare has seen a leading player in the form of Larsen and Toubro. The engineering giant is now ready to get a major share in a Rs 5,000-crore deal with Russia; the deal would be done to upgrade and refit Kilo class submarines, originally belonging to Russia.

L&T, which is already a leading partner for the nuclear submarine project of the Indian Navy, has now been chosen as the Indian partner for the Kilo class refit. The program is meant to increase the life of these submarines by 10 years each, which would be done using some complex engineering.

As per ET sources, the Indian government received a letter from Russia, stating that the earlier partnership plan that it had with the Pipavav (promoted by Anil Ambani) now stands cancelled. The reason behind this cancellation was the delay that would have happened at the end of the shipyard in meeting timelines set by the Navy for the upgrade plan.

L&T is expected to upgrade at least three submarines in India after this deal, making the yard a leading contender to receive similar orders from other neighbouring nations that operate Kilo class submarines.

"A survey of the equipment profile and finances was conducted at the Cochin Shipyard, Pipavav and the L&T yard at Kattupalli. Only the L&T facility was found technically capable of carrying out the work in the given timeframe," an official involved in the process told ET.

The first of the four Kilo class subs will be going to the Russian Zvezdochka shipyard where they would be inspected and refitted, while the remaining three would be handled at the Kattupalli yard.

These refits will be extending the life of the subs while also upgrading their combat potential.