Spain’s state-owned Navantia hopes India begins delayed purchase of aircraft carriers

New Delhi, Jul 10 (EFE).- Spanish state-owned shipbuilding firm Navantia said Monday that it hoped the Indian authorities would launch this year a public tender for the purchase of four aircraft carriers, a project that has faced delays and for which it wants to present its flagship Juan Carlos I.

“We hope that before the end of this year they will launch the public tender for the indian Navy” to acquire the well-known as LPD – landing platform dock, or a type of assault ship -, Naval Construction Director of Navantia, Agustin Alvarez Blanco, told EFE in New Delhi.

Blanco underlined his agreement with Indian construction firm Larsen & Toubro to jointly bid for the tender during an event in which both companies formalized their partnership as candidates for India’s procurement of six submarines expected to amount to $5 billion.

The aircraft carrier Juan Carlos I, with 230 meters in length and 32 meters in beam, sailed to the city of Mumbai in 2018 to display its operational versatility to the Indian authorities.

The acquisition process of these military vessels, with the capacity to transport troops and other equipment such as helicopters or boats to combat zones, was relaunched in 2021 by the Indian Ministry of Defense.

The Indian authorities decided to acquire four of these vessels in 2010, and called the initial tender in 2013, valued at some $2.5 billion, but remained stagnant for years after that.

Juan Carlos I was commissioned by the Spanish navy in 2010, and its design has been acquired by Australia and Turkey. EFE

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