Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) provided prospective updates regarding several surface combatant and submarine projects under consideration for the Indian Navy in its Q2 FY2026 investor conference call.
Destroyers
MDL officials indicated that the Navy is going to come out with a destroyer class project which may be “either the 15 Charlie or the next-generation destroyer” worth around ₹70,000 – 80,000 crores ($8 – 9 billion).
While the Next Generation Destroyer (NGD) project, also commonly termed Project-18, has been in the works for years, the mention of a Project-15C is a first in public. The Project 15 designation has been applied to three different classes of destroyers. The first of the three was the Delhi class, followed by Project-15A Kolkata class and Project-15B Visakhapatnam class. While the three ship P-15A was heavily modernized and modified upon the three ship P-15 design, the P-15B consists of four destroyers which have refined the P-15A design.
With the NGD being a clean slate project with more complex design, technology and manufacturing requirements, a follow-on class to P-15B has the potential to provide timely value. Any serious consideration of a Project-15C class is likely to provide a buffer for the NGD timelines and can be expected to feature significant technology upgrades over the P-15B to de-risk induction of the same in NGD.
Further, in response to a question regarding a reported MoU with a Japanese shipping firm, the following response was provided:
There was a destroyer, but it’s very, very early stages of discussion where the Navy is looking at having a common destroyer designed between India and Japan. But these are very, very early stages. We have not signed any MoU.
India had signed an agreement with Japan regarding cooperation in developing and utilizing UNICORN integrated masts for Indian Navy ships. It is possible that this necessitates a certain level of design cooperation for the ships as well. However, at this stage any complete shared warship design for the Indian Navy and JMSDF looks far-fetched. Projects like the NGD are being designed by the Warship Design Bureau (WDB), Indian Navy’s in-house design entity.
Submarines
For the acquisition of three additional P-75 submarines, the commercial negotiations with MoD were completed “a few months ago” and the project was at the sanction stage. But MDL hasn’t received an update beyond that and is still hopeful of signing the P-75(AS) contract in the coming months.
For Project-75I, commercial negotiations are ongoing. MDL anticipates completion of commercial negotiations by December and are hopeful of signing the contract by March. There will be more than 60% of indigenous content in P-75I from TKMS, much higher than what was done for the P-75 Scorpene project. MDL expects that once it gains the know-how in the design and construction of P-75I submarines, MDL will benefit from both maintenance of such submarines in service with other navies as well as export orders through TKMS, particularly in Asia and South America.
Landing Platform Docks
MDL has signed an exclusive MoU with Swan Shipyard (SDHI) for bidding for the Navy’s LPD project. SDHI has a large shipyard in Pipanav with India’s largest drydock, which is vital for building the LPDs which are planned to be over 200 meters long. A teaming agreement can be signed in the future for managing the responsibilities. The four ship LPD project is expected to be worth up to ₹40,000 crores ($4.5 billion). In the future MDL may collaborate with SDHI for large commercial ships as well.
MDL expects the LPD project to take over a year before a winning bid and contract is selected after due procedure. While a 2021 RFI had mandated a design partner, this requirement is unlikely to be mandated now, with indigenous design likely.
Frigates
The third Project-17 Alpha (P-17A) frigate built by MDL will be delivered later this year with the fourth ship in the next financial year. MDL was contracted to build four ships of the seven ship P-17A Nilgiri class while GRSE was contracted for the remaining three. A follow-on class called Project-17B is also in the works with a Request for Proposal (RFP) expected in the coming months.
Mine Counter Measure Vessels
RFP for MCMV is expected in the next 3 to 4 months, following the RFP for P-17B. 12 such ships are required by the Navy for about ₹40,000 crores ($4.5 billion) and will be built by two shipyards.
These projects will form the core of Indian Navy’s upcoming expansion plan, with certain projects for Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMV) and Next Generation Corvettes (NGC) already underway.
