New Delhi: The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to France next month is being seen by the head of French submarine builder Naval Group as an opportunity to showcase its technologies in a bid to clinch further deals.
“It’s an opportunity to talk about what we’re doing,” Chief Executive Officer Pierre Éric Pommellet told a media outlet. Naval Group is supplying six diesel-powered Scorpene submarines to India in a deal that includes sharing technology with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. Five have already been delivered, and the last ones including the sixth will have been built entirely in the country.
“We are ready to talk with our customer about future technology that we can include in the submarines, and eventually a continuation of the program,” Pommellet said. “India is for sure a very important customer of Naval group and a very important partner for France.”
Prime Minister Modi is due to travel to Paris for the annual Bastille Day celebrations on July 14 as French President Emmanuel Macron seeks to deepen political and business ties with developing countries, as well as trying to build a global coalition to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine. Visits by state leaders are typically followed by announcements of bilateral deals. France’s defence industry ambitions face competition from Germany.
During a visit to India by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius last week, the marine arm of Thyssenkrupp AG and Mazagon said they intend to jointly build submarines for the Indian navy as the country looks to order six diesel-electric models at an estimated cost of $5.2 billion.
Naval Group, which was 62% owned by the French state and 35% by defence group Thales SA as of December 31, suffered a blow in 2019 when Australia cancelled a $58 billion deal for a fleet of 12 diesel-powered submarines to enter a defence alliance with the US and the UK dubbed AUKUS. Canberra subsequently agreed to provide €555 million of financial compensation, which Pommellet called “fair.” The shipbuilder is also eyeing potential new contracts in the Netherlands and Brazil.
