[5] As of 2025, initial negotiations for the purchase-cum-manufacturing of six submarines designed by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems in partnership with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders have commenced, with approval from the MoD expected soon.

[6][7] In 1997, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) - the highest-decision making body of India's Ministry of Defence (MoD), approved the construction of two Type 209/1500 attack submarines (SSK) at a then-estimated cost of INR ₹700 crore.

[8] This effort, which was conceived in the wake of an international corruption scandal related to India's acquisition of the Shishumar-class submarines, called for the construction of two Type 209/1500 SSKs at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) with the assistance of a foreign naval firm in a corroborative role.

[8] In accordance with the scheme, the Indian Navy (IN) and MDL approached several naval enterprises for assistance; however, the French-based Thomson-CSF (TCSF) was the only firm willing to participate.

[8] The initial plan to ally with TCSF was dropped in April 2001 and negotiations for the procurement of the Scorpène design under the first phase, dubbed Project-75 (P-75), began in November 2001.

[10] Under the requirements of the program, the submarines are to be procured from an international naval firm and are to be contract-built at a chosen Indian shipyard, in accordance with the country's Make in India initiative.

[13][11] In 2008, the IN issued a request for information (RFI) to multiple naval firms, namely, Armaris, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), Rubin Design Bureau and Navantia to inquire about a possible acquisition of submarines equipped with specific features.

[16] The DAC, then chaired by minister of defence A. K. Antony, had originally planned to build three of the six submarines at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and one at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) with foreign assistance whilst procuring the remaining two submarines directly from a foreign vendor or from a private Indian shipyard, at a total budget of INR ₹50,000 crore (equivalent to ₹1.1 trillion or US$13 billion in 2023).

The RFI was issued to Rosoboronexport (Russia), Navantia (Spain), Saab (Sweden), ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (German), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) and Naval Group (formerly French DCNS).

[31] Later that year, in June 2019, Daewoo Shipping & Marine Engineering (formerly DSME, today Hanwha Ocean) was allowed to partake in the competition as a late entrant; at the time, the EOI had already expired.

[53] In August 2021, TKMS withdrew from the program, citing an incapacity on its part to satisfy several conditions of the RFP, specifically the liability and technology transfer clauses in particular.

[54] TKMS complained about a "lack of flexibility" in the tender, arguing that the liability clause - which stipulated that the selected foreign firm would be identified as the sole responsible party for the submarines' construction - was too stringent.

[54][50] The development thenceforth plunged the future of the program into uncertainty, as the MoD would have been compelled to scrap the tender to avoid such a non-competitive climacteric, in accordance with its 2020-issued defence-acquisition guidelines.

[54][55] In February 2022, Rosoboronexport - Russia's state-controlled intermediary agency responsible for the export of the country's military equipment, announced that it had decided to withdraw from the competition, stating that it lacked the ability to comply with the RFP's requirements.

[57] In April 2022, Naval Group announced that it too would withdraw its participation, stating that it could not comply with the tender's parameters, which called for the supply of a fuel-cell AIP system.

[58][59] Faced with the dual instances of either the foreign contestants being disqualified or withdrawing on their own accord, the MoD resorted to postpone the deadline of the tender thrice - from November 2021 to June 2022, then to December 2022 and again to August 2023.

[64] In June 2023, during a two-day visit by German federal defence minister Boris Pistorius to India, TKMS and MDL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly bid for the P-75(I) deal, thus fulfilling the requirements of the SP acquisition policy.

[66][67][68] Concurrently, The Economic Times, another Indian daily-outlet, published a report that same month, stating that L&T Shipbuilding had teamed with Navantia to offer the S-80 Plus submarine.