After implementation of project 17, 17A, and recent project 17B , Navy preparing for advanced submarines under all new project 18.

After successful Induction of Warships into Indian Navy under project 17, Project 17 A under implementation and very recent order of Rs70,000 crore for 7 warships under project 17B on Mazgaon Dock and Garden reach, the order book for both Warships making companies remains full for next 6-8 years.

Now as per latest news published by Indian Defence research wing, Navy is now seems to be preparing for more advanced submarines under a new project code named project 18. (refer 1st link).

In a recent article published by NDTV which compares military hardware India vs China ( Army , Navy , Airforce ), India is way far lagging behind than China in all fronts and more so in Naval power and Airforce ( refer 2nd link )

For example, the Chinese Navy has a fleet strength of 730 warships, which includes 61 submarines and 3 Helicopter Carriers. India has a fleet strength of 294 with 18 Submarines and 0 Helicopter carriers.

China is having significant presence in Indian Ocean. Recently, when one Indian warship docked at a Srilanka port , 3 Chinese warships docked at the same port at the same time. This speaks a lot.

Post 1962 Indo-China war, the relationship between both the nations continues to remain tense since then with multiple mini wars at multiple Border locations.
India’s relationship with Pakistan also remains tense. India is also wary of growing relationships between China and Pakistan and China- Pakistan economic corridor that runs close to Indian border.

So I believe the Indian defence budget spends and defence stocks including the ancillaries involved in defence equipment manufacturing are a decadal story for us as investors, if India is to secure its borders with China & Pakistan.

https://idrw.org/indian-navy-to-seek-dac-approvals-to-build-8-10-advanced-project-18-destroyers/

Discl: Remain fully invested from lower level in a basket of defence stocks. I may be biased. please do your own assessment before investment.