France major backs out of key submarine project a day

A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France French defense major Naval Group announced to withdraw its participation in the P-75 India (P-75I) project as it cannot fulfill demands of Request for Proposal (RFP). 

Laurent Videau, Country and Managing Director, Naval Group India, on Tuesday said.

“However, the present RFP requires that the fuel cell AIP (air-independent propulsion) be sea prove, which is not the case for us yet since the French Navy does not use such propulsion system,” he mentioned.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is schedule to visit Paris tomorrow (on May 4) where he will meet French. President Emmanuel Macron who has recently re-elected to his position. 

Under P-75I project, a total number of six conventional submarines are suppose to be in India for the Indian Navy. The project is worth Rs 43,000-crore. 

The P-75I project is the second project to build submarines in India.