India has agreed to pay roughly $2 billion to lease a nuclear-powered attack submarine from Russia, completing a deal that has been under negotiation for nearly a decade, according to information reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by people familiar with the talks. The contract, originally signed in March 2019 but delayed for years, is now moving forward with delivery scheduled for 2028. Indian officials visited a Russian shipyard in November, clearing the final hurdles after long-running disagreements over cost.
The lease marks a major step in India’s effort to strengthen its underwater capabilities as geopolitical competition rises across the Indian Ocean region. The submarine, which cannot be used in combat under the terms of the arrangement, will serve primarily to train crews and refine India’s own nuclear submarine operations. The vessel will remain with the Indian Navy for 10 years, mirroring the lease terms of the previous Russian nuclear submarine that returned to Russia in 2021. The agreement includes maintenance support from Russian technicians over the duration of the lease.
The timing of the finalized deal coincides with President Vladimir Putin’s arrival in India for his first visit since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. His meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to highlight the durability of defense and energy ties between the two nations, even as New Delhi balances its relationships with Moscow, Washington and Beijing. In a statement Thursday, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov reaffirmed the “deep sense of trust” underlying bilateral relations, with Moscow expressing readiness to support India’s push toward defense self-reliance.
India currently operates 17 diesel-electric submarines, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, and is advancing an ambitious program to expand and modernize its underwater fleet. The country has developed nuclear-capable submarine-launched ballistic missiles and is building two nuclear-powered attack submarines in addition to preparing for the arrival of its third ballistic missile submarine next year. Nuclear-powered vessels provide major strategic advantages: they can remain submerged far longer, cover greater distances, and are significantly quieter than diesel-electric submarines, making them harder to detect across the Indian and Pacific oceans.
The submarine deal also underscores India’s continued comfort with Russia on sensitive defense programs, even as it diversifies its arms suppliers by purchasing more equipment from the United States and Europe. Modi has strengthened ties with Russia and China in recent months while asserting India’s strategic autonomy, particularly after former U.S. President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariff rates of 50 percent on Indian goods. Trump has criticized India’s reliance on Russian energy and weapons, most recently introducing a 25 percent secondary tariff on U.S. imports of Indian goods in August as part of pressure for New Delhi to reduce its purchases of Russian oil.
Interest in nuclear-powered submarines is rising across the region as strategic competition intensifies. Australia is building similar vessels under the AUKUS partnership with the U.S. and U.K., while South Korea has begun cooperating with Washington on its own nuclear-powered submarine program. Despite the shifting global landscape, India maintains longstanding defense ties with Moscow, and the leasing of another Russian nuclear submarine reinforces a partnership that remains central to New Delhi’s military planning.
