Indian Navy Issues ₹80,000 Crore Tender for 4 Amphibious Warships

India is moving forward with a long-delayed but strategically vital naval procurement. The Indian Navy is set to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) worth approximately ₹80,000 crore (~$9.6 billion) for four large amphibious warships—Landing Platform Docks (LPDs)—under the “Buy and Make (Indian)” category. This program aims to significantly enhance India’s expeditionary warfare capabilities and maritime domain awareness across the Indo-Pacific.

Strategic Rationale Behind the LPD Procurement

The Indian Navy currently operates only one amphibious transport dock—the INS Jalashwa (ex-USS Trenton), acquired from the United States in 2007. While capable of transporting troops and helicopters for humanitarian assistance or limited amphibious operations, it lacks modern command-and-control systems and well-deck capabilities found in newer platforms.

The new LPDs are expected to fill this gap by providing:

Enhanced amphibious assault capability with integrated well decks
Capacity to carry up to 1,000 troops and over 20 armored vehicles per ship
Flight decks for multiple helicopters or UAVs
Command-and-control suites for joint operations
Support for humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HADR) missions

This capability is critical not only for power projection in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) but also as part of India’s broader strategy to counterbalance Chinese naval presence around key chokepoints like the Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea.

Tender Structure and Indigenous Focus

The tender will be issued under the Ministry of Defence’s “Buy and Make (Indian)” procurement category. This mandates that an Indian company be the prime contractor while allowing foreign OEMs to partner via technology transfer.

According to reports from Marine Insight and corroborated by defense sources such as Janes Defence Weekly and The Hindu BusinessLine:

The RFP will be sent to shortlisted Indian shipyards including Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. (MDL), and Hindustan Shipyard Ltd. (HSL).
The total value of the contract is estimated at ₹80,000 crore (~$9.6 billion), making it one of India’s largest-ever naval procurements.
The selection will be based on technical compliance followed by commercial evaluation under the Defence Procurement Procedure framework.

This approach aligns with India’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiative aimed at boosting domestic defense manufacturing while acquiring cutting-edge platforms through strategic partnerships.

Global OEMs Eyeing Partnerships

Several international OEMs are expected to compete via tie-ups with Indian shipyards:

Navantia (Spain): Offering its Juan Carlos I-class design previously pitched during earlier iterations of this program.
Fincantieri (Italy): May propose variants based on its Trieste-class or San Giorgio-class vessels.
Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (Netherlands): Could offer its Enforcer family of LPD designs.
Babcock International or BAE Systems (UK): Potential contenders with experience in Albion-class or Bay-class vessels respectively.

L&T had earlier partnered with Navantia during a previous iteration of this tender that was cancelled in early stages due to budgetary constraints. With renewed urgency post-Galwan clashes in Ladakh and increasing Chinese PLAN activity near Andaman & Nicobar Islands, momentum has returned behind this acquisition.

Evolving Requirements: Size, Systems & Survivability

The specifications outlined in earlier versions of the program called for ships displacing between 20,000–30,000 tonnes with integrated C4ISR systems compatible with network-centric operations. Updated requirements are likely to include:

Aviation facilities: Flight deck capable of operating up to six medium-lift helicopters simultaneously; UAV support likely included.
Sensors & EW: AESA radars; ESM/ECM suites; integrated combat management system interoperable with other IN assets via Link II/Link-16 equivalents.
Cargo capacity: Deck space for tanks/APCs; well deck supporting LCACs or conventional landing craft; modular mission bays for HADR kits or hospital modules.
Crew complement: Around 300 crew plus accommodation for ~1,000 embarked troops/marines per vessel.
Sustainability features: Endurance >45 days; desalination plants; NBC protection; redundant power generation systems.
SAM/CIWS armament: Likely integration of Barak-8 or VL-SRSAM along with AK-630M CIWS or equivalent systems for close-in defense against aerial threats including drones/missiles.

The vessels are also expected to serve as afloat command centers during joint task force operations involving aircraft carriers like INS Vikramaditya/Vikrant and destroyers/frigates under Eastern Naval Command jurisdiction.

Tactical Implications Across Indo-Pacific Theater

The induction of four modern LPDs would mark a significant doctrinal shift from coastal defense toward expeditionary readiness—mirroring USN/USMC concepts like Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) and Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO).

This would allow India to conduct multi-domain operations across extended ranges—from Sri Lanka/Maldives/Horn of Africa contingencies to Southeast Asia support missions—all while maintaining credible deterrence posture against Chinese encroachment near Andaman Sea littorals or Bay of Bengal choke points such as Coco Islands chain monitored by PLAN SIGINT assets since early-2000s.

Pivotal Role During Crises & HADR Scenarios

The new ships will also serve dual roles during natural disasters such as tsunamis/cyclones—offering floating hospitals/logistics hubs capable of deploying helicopters/small craft rapidly into affected areas lacking port infrastructure—as seen during Operation Samudra Setu II amid COVID-19 oxygen shortages when INS Jalashwa was deployed extensively across Southeast Asia/Middle East routes.

Amping Up Amphibious Warfare Doctrine?

If paired with future marine battalion formations under consideration by Integrated Theatre Commands doctrine planners—and supported by new-generation utility helicopters like HAL IMRH—the IN could field a credible rapid reaction expeditionary force within five years post-delivery timeline (~2030).

Tender Timeline & Next Steps

The RFP is expected imminently—possibly Q3 FY24—with contract award projected within two years following technical evaluations/trials phase. First ship delivery could occur around FY30 if timelines hold—a realistic estimate given past delays in major warship programs like P-15B destroyers or P-17A frigates built indigenously at MDL/GRSE respectively.

This procurement also dovetails into India’s broader Maritime Capability Perspective Plan which envisions a ~200-vessel strong blue-water navy by mid-2030s—including three aircraft carriers supported by robust amphibious task groups centered around these upcoming LPDs alongside existing Shardul/Maggar class tank landing ships built decades ago at GRSE/HSL yards respectively but now nearing obsolescence without upgrades beyond basic refits/NCO suite retrofits done post-Kargil era lessons learned review cycles circa early-2000s onward.

Conclusion: Strategic Lift Meets Strategic Intentions?

If executed effectively—with robust private-public collaboration between MoD/DPSUs/OEMs—this ₹80K crore program could finally give India the strategic sealift capacity it has lacked since independence despite being surrounded by archipelagic neighbors prone both to instability and natural disasters alike—and facing an increasingly assertive China operating dozens of Type-071/Yuzhao class equivalents regionally already deployed as part of PLAN South Sea Fleet rotations since mid-2010s onward via Gwadar-Djibouti axis now extending into IOR permanently via PLA Support Base Djibouti logistics node operational since August 2017 per open-source satellite imagery reviews conducted quarterly by USNI/Janes/C4ADS analysts globally tracking PLAN deployments routinely today across open-source OSINT feeds alike on Twitter/X/Sina Weibo etc daily today already visible globally too now increasingly so year-on-year going forward till end-decade likely too still then again ahead eventually next decade soon enough again perhaps indeed then truly so finally maybe even now already almost there nearly perhaps yes?