Germany says it has completed its domestic approval process and is ready to sign the Project-75I agreement.
The deal requires approval from India’s Cabinet Committee on Security before it can be finalised.
Beyond submarines, India and Germany are exploring defence cooperation in drones, cybersecurity, missile technology and sensor systems.
Germany has completed its domestic approval process for the government-to-government agreement tied to India’s Project-75I submarine programme and is prepared to sign the deal, the German ambassador to India, Dr Jasper Wieck, said on Wednesday.
While speaking to reporters for the first time since taking office in August, Wieck said Berlin had cleared every document under negotiation, including the intergovernmental agreement, which he described as far-reaching in scope and responsive to New Delhi’s specific requirements.
“From the German side, we could sign it tomorrow,” he said. The agreement now awaits approval from India’s Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which is the final step before it can be finalised.
Project-75I Awaits Final Approval
The comments come as India presses ahead with Project-75I, a long-delayed effort under which the Indian Navy intends to induct six conventionally powered submarines fitted with air-independent propulsion (AIP), technology that lets a submarine stay submerged for extended stretches without surfacing to recharge its batteries.
Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) is the frontrunner for the contract, bidding in partnership with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), the Mumbai-based state-run shipyard. The programme falls under the Strategic Partnership model, a framework meant to pair a foreign original equipment manufacturer with an Indian company for local construction and substantial technology transfer.
Project-75I has been in the pipeline for close to two decades, with earlier attempts to finalise a contract repeatedly stalling over technical specifications, liability clauses and the terms of technology transfer. Its completion is expected to give the Navy’s underwater fleet a significant boost at a time when submarine numbers have been falling due to ageing platforms and delayed replacements.
India-Germany Defence Cooperation
On the broader trajectory of Indo-German defence ties, Wieck said a submarine ranks among the most intricate weapons platforms in existence, built from a vast web of components. Localising that production, he argued, could open the door to wider collaboration, extending to the weapons and systems the submarines would eventually carry.
He also pointed to unmanned systems as a priority area, noting that drones had taken on a growing role in modern conflict, Ukraine being a case in point, and that both countries’ armed forces were likely to lean more heavily on such technology going forward.
Cyber security, missile technology and sensor systems were other fields he flagged as ripe for joint development, calling them areas where India and Germany were already progressing well and could become natural partners if cooperation deepens.
The comments follow an existing collaboration between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), a European defence procurement body backed by Germany among other members, on the Eurodrone, a Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle.
