Thyssenkrupp, Mazagon Dock to bid for ₹43,000 cr submarine contract

German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) has signed an agreement with Mumbai-based warship manufacturer Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to jointly bid for a submarine tender of the Indian Navy.

The two companies intend to build submarines powered by air-independent propulsion (AIP) technology.

As part of the deal, Thyssenkrupp would contribute to the engineering and design of the submarines and the consultancy support to this joint project. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders would take responsibility for constructing and delivering the six submarines. The contract is estimated to be around $5.2 billion (₹43,000 crore).

The construction of the submarines would take place in India and is expected to have significant local content, the defence public sector undertaking says in a stock exchange filing.

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders would take responsibility for constructing and delivering the respective submarines.

"It is the intention of the parties to establish a cooperation according to which thyssenkrupp Marine Systems would contribute to the engineering and design of the submarines as well as the consultancy support to this joint project," the filing says.

Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, the market leader for non-nuclear submarines, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai in the presence of Boris Pistorius, German Defence Minister on Wednesday.

"We look back on a trusting and decade-long partnership with India. The boats we built in the 1980s are still in service today. We are very proud of that and would be delighted to contribute to India's national security further on. We stand ready when India calls on us," says Oliver Burkhard, CEO of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems already built and delivered boats for the Indian Navy in the past. "The four HDW Class 209 submarines, built in the 1980s were already back then a successful Indo-German cooperation. Boats one and two were built by thyssenkrupp Marine System (then HDW in Kiel), boats three and four were built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai. All four vessels were successfully commissioned into the Indian Navy and remain today as frontline assets in the Indian Navy’s submarine service, based in Mumbai," the filing says.

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is one of the world's leading naval companies with almost 7,500 employees and is active as a systems supplier for submarines and naval surface vessels as well as for maritime electronics and security technologies.

Shares of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders fell 1.5% in intraday trade on Thursday to ₹1,014 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The defence PSU's market capitalisation stood at ₹20,451 crore.