The Indian Navy is all set to issue a tender to acquire six lethal submarines as part of the ambitious Project 75 India, which is expected to cost more than Rs 50,000 crore.

“The project proposal will be discussed at tomorrow's [Friday's] Defence Acquisition Council meeting, which will be attended by all major stakeholders from the three services and the defence ministry,” top government sources told India Today TV.

The Indian Navy intends to build six conventional diesel-electric submarines under Project 75 India, which would be nearly 50 per cent larger than the Scorpene-class submarines currently under construction at Mazagon Dockyards Limited in Mumbai.

According to the maritime force's specifications, the submarines must be equipped with heavy-duty firepower, with at least 12 Land Attack Cruise Missiles (LACM) and Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles (ASCM).

The Navy has also specified that the submarines must be capable of carrying and launching 18 heavyweight torpedoes at sea. The next generation of submarines will require significantly more firepower than the Scorpene.

While the Indian Navy has over 140 submarines and surface warships, the Pakistani Navy only has about 20 of these. The Indian Navy, on the other hand, is building assets to counter the Chinese Navy, which occasionally operates in the Indian Ocean region.