The Ministry of Defense recently issued an initial tender for a deal of about Rs 45,000 crore for acquiring six new submarines for the Navy. In the second term of the Modi government, this first major step has been taken to strengthen the military strength within a month. The approval of these submarines was received only in 2007, but for the last twelve years, various governments have been miffed about it's deal and construction process. However, it can take more than a decade from completing this deal to handing it over to the Navy. This passage describes how Indian military preparedness is a victim of political uncertainty. In view of the increasing activities of China in the Indian Ocean, a great need was felt to acquire a sufficient number of new vessels to protect its maritime interests. After the Kargil war, a policy decision was taken to build two new submarine construction facilities in line with the new strategic challenge facing the country. In 2006, under Project-75, in collaboration with France, a deal of about Rs 23,000 crore was made to build six Scarpine submarines at Mazgaon Dock in Mumbai. A year later, it was approved to build six new submarines with Indian companies in the country.
Under Project-75, two submarines of the Scorpene class have been delivered to the Navy in the last two years, while the rest are under various stages of construction. Our defence masters had decided in 1999 that the Navy should have 24 submarines by 2030. At present, the Navy has nine Russian-class submarines, which are more than two decades old. Four submarines of German Type-209 class have also been completed over two decades.
By the end of the next decade when the submarines of both these classes will have to retire, the Navy will have only six Scorpene-class submarines left and a nuclear submarine leased from Russia will have to be returned to Russia. Apart from the Navy's only Arihant nuclear submarine, two more nuclear submarines will be able to join the Navy by 2030. This means that by the end of the next decade, only about a dozen submarines will survive.
The question arises as to how the increased responsibility for continuous surveillance in the area from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean by 2030 will be met by limited submarines. The Navy needs to continuously increase the capacity of the submarines from Australia to the African coast and the Persian Gulf to Malacca in its vast sea territory, as the Indian Ocean region is expected to become an arena of major forces in the next few years.
Since we do not have any other plans to acquire new submarines at this time, our Navy will be far behind its desired capability of reconnaissance in the Indian Ocean. Whereas we have to develop the submarine capacity in view of the submarine capacity of our main rivals China and Pakistan. China has 68, including nuclear and diesel submarines, and Pakistan has ten diesel submarines, which could pose a challenge for India in the Indian Ocean region. To counter them, our Navy's submarine capacity needs to be increased immediately.
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