Spain to join the pre-bidding process for the Indian submarine project.

Apparently, according to Indian media, Spain has expressed interest in the pre-bidding process for the Indian requirement for an advanced line of conventional submarines. This would extend the contest currently involving France, Germany, Sweden and Russia.

An artist rendering of the Project 75I submarine of the Indian Navy (Picture Source: Indian Navy)

Even if Spain had initially backed off from the project, it appears that Spanish state-owned Navantia Shipbuilding Company finally decided to send an official representation to the Indian Defence Ministry in order to be included in the list of Global Yards that will be sent an Expression of Interest (EOI) by the Indian Navy.

The EOIs to Global Yards were expected to be sent early this month and a final request for proposals (RFPs) or tenders are expected by the end of this year for the project that has been named P-75I (for Project 75I). Officials said Spain’s request could be considered positively as it is in Indian interest to broad base the selection as much as possible. Even though, this late interest shouldn't delay the selection process.

The Navy, which aims at a 200-ship fleet at the earliest to protect the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), is moving fast on shipbuilding projects and issued RFPs on Monday 01 for 34 warships that are to be made in India.