The first of the six Scorpene submarines being built in India under technology transfer is likely to join the Navy by end of July, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said on Wednesday.
Kalvari is going through its final phase of trials and we are hopeful that in July-August we will take delivery,” he said speaking to the media on the sidelines of a Navy-FICCI seminar on “Building India’s future Navy: technology imperatives.”
Six Scorpene submarines are being built under Project-75 by Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL) with technology transfer from France.
On the recent decision by Sri Lanka to deny permission for a Chinese submarine to dock at Colombo, Adm Lanba said that it was a decision by the Sri Lankan Government.
“We have no dialogue on this with the Sri Lankans. It was a decision they have taken on their own,” he stated.
The decision by Sri Lanka came coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to the Island nations. Chinese submarines on anti-piracy patrols had in the past docked.
Strategic Partnership
The Navy is hopeful of pushing the two deals under Strategic Partnership (SP) policy very soon given the high priority.
“As per the model, we all have to get the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) on what we want to get the Strategic Partners build, so that the SP in each segment can be identified. We are hopeful that we will be able to move the process within six months,” Adm Lanba said.
Of the four segments under SP, two are for the Navy, submarines and Naval helicopters. The others are single engine fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force and armoured vehicles for the Army.
Both the Navy deals have been held up from sometime due to delay in finalising the SP policy.
Published - May 31, 2017 11:42 am IST
