India is moving closer to signing off on one of its largest naval procurements in years, with the long-delayed Project 75(India) submarine program heading to the Cabinet Committee on Security for final approval.
All six stealth vessels will be constructed at Mazagon Dock's Mumbai facilities under the Make in India strategic partnership framework, backed by extensive German technology transfer.
Fuel-cell propulsion changes that math, allowing the vessels to run silently underwater for weeks at a stretch while keeping acoustic signatures to a bare minimum.
The timing matters. The Indian Navy is managing a fleet where older hulls are fast approaching retirement, even as China's People's Liberation Army Navy steps up patrols and expands its footprint across the Indian Ocean. Bringing these new platforms online is central to protecting vital sea lanes and holding an edge in undersea warfare. Beyond fleet numbers, the program is designed to feed work into domestic industry—bringing private suppliers into the supply chain, building high-tech shipbuilding skills, and establishing the yard capacity needed for long-term maintenance, refits, and future indigenous submarine designs.