India's thrust on achieving self-reliance in underwater operations has gained a major boost as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) secured the government approval for the design and development of a conventional indigenous submarine.
"DRDO got a go-ahead from defenсe ministry to carry out a preliminary study to determine the project contours," an unnamed defence official told the Hindu on Monday.
However, the project sanction will take nearly a year for the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), after it receives the official case, the source added.
The project codenamed P-76 will not only involve the domestic military-industrial complex in the production of submarines, including weapons, boasting of torpedoes and missiles but it will also create a robust manufacturing line at home which would sort out the Indian Navy's (IN) perennial problem of lack of submarines in its fleet, as previously announced.
Among other areas where indigenously developed technology will be used in submarine building in India are the induction of homegrown combat management systems, Electronic Warfare suites, and sonars.
The country's latest set of six submarines having stealth features were manufactured at home by the state-run Mazagon Dockyard Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) under a technology transfer agreement signed with France's Naval Group following $3.75 agreement inked in 2005.
However, with the IN area of operations expanding rapidly due to the growing prominence of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), New Delhi is looking to induct more and more submarines into service albeit at a lesser cost, and for that, it seems to be relying on the indigenous route.
At present, the maritime branch of the state's Armed Forces operates approximately 15 submarines in the country's territorial waters.