The country’s Defence Acquisition Council on Friday approved a deal for construction of six advanced conventional submarines for the Indian Navy at an estimated cost of Rs 43,000 crore. The clearance was granted in a meeting held under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

In an official release, the ministry said this was the first acquisition of submarines under strategic partnership model that allows domestic defence manufacturers to join hands with foreign companies to reduce import dependence.

“This would be one of the largest ‘Make in India’ projects and will serve to facilitate faster and more significant absorption of technology and create a tiered industrial ecosystem for submarine construction in India,” the ministry said.

The Request for Proposal, or RFP, for acquisition of the submarines have been issued to engineering company Larsen & Toubro and state-owned Mazagaon Docks Limited, PTI reported, citing unidentified government sources.

Both the companies will have to respond to the RFP by tying up with one of the five already short-listed foreign shipyards, which are Rosoboronexport (Russia), Daewoo (South Korea), ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (Germany), Navantia (Spain) and Naval Group (France).

The Indian Navy has plans to acquire 24 new submarines, including six nuclear attack submarines, to bolster its underwater fighting capability, according to PTI. It currently has 15 conventional submarines and two nuclear submarines.

In Friday’s meeting, the Defence Acquisition Council also approved capital acquisitions of various equipment for modernisation and operational needs of the armed forces amounting to nearly Rs 6,000 crore, the defence ministry said.