In a significant move to bolster India’s maritime self-reliance, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) of Mumbai and Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) of Visakhapatnam have sealed a pact aimed at expediting submarine manufacturing across the country’s eastern and western shores. This collaboration is set to enhance India’s strategic underwater capabilities by distributing submarine projects between these two premier defence shipyards.
The recently inked memorandum of understanding marks a new chapter in submarine construction. By combining MDL’s longstanding expertise with HSL’s growing capabilities, this partnership promises faster production and better utilisation of resources. HSL’s proficiency in outfitting will complement MDL’s efforts, shortening build times and ensuring India meets the Navy’s demand for around two dozen submarines more efficiently.
Historically dependent on a single shipyard, India’s submarine output faced capacity constraints. Now, with MDL on the West Coast and HSL on the East Coast working in tandem, the nation is poised to overcome these hurdles, sustain operational readiness, and maintain strategic flexibility.
HSL’s journey from a naval repair yard to a capable submarine constructor has been remarkable. Beginning in the 1970s, HSL gained vital experience by servicing Egyptian submarines and later India’s Foxtrot-class vessels. Its expertise deepened with complex Russian-origin EKM-class submarine projects, culminating in a landmark achievement in 2015—the successful mid-life upgrade of INS Sindhukirti, India’s only domestic submarine overhaul of this scale.
In 2020, HSL reaffirmed its growing strength by completing the INS Sindhuvir refit ahead of schedule. Today, its state-of-the-art infrastructure includes specialised workshops, chemical cleaning facilities, advanced pipe-fitting units, and a deep-water waterfront, unmatched by other Indian yards. These assets, coupled with a skilled workforce and robust local supply chains, prepare HSL to rise from refits to full submarine construction for ambitious projects like P75(I) and P76.
Since its transfer to the Ministry of Defence in 2010, HSL has been strategically positioned as India’s alternate submarine building hub, a vision rooted in a Cabinet Committee on Security decision from 1999 and confirmed by the Defence Acquisition Council in 2010.
The importance of a strong submarine fleet was underscored by recent operations demonstrating submarines’ critical roles in surveillance, deterrence, and maintaining India’s naval dominance in the Indian Ocean.
This partnership of India’s two shipyards is more than collaboration—it is the forging of a future-ready force beneath the waves.
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