French defence firm pulls out of India's P-75I project

New Delhi: French company Naval Group on Tuesday said it is unable to participate in Centre's P-75I project, under which six conventional submarines are to be domestically built for the Indian Navy, due to conditions mentioned in the request for proposal (RFP) related to air independent propulsion (AIP) system.

Naval Group's announcement comes a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Paris where he is scheduled meet recently re-elected French President Emmanuel Macron.

AIP system allows a conventional submarine to stay submerged in water at higher speeds for a longer period of time.

The Rs 43,000 crore-contract will be awarded by the defence ministry following a detailed evaluation of the responses sent by the two strategic partners.