The ecosystem already exists for maintaining and operating HEU reactors via the Arihant Class. That investment has already been made. I am not sure how open India is to the idea of repeating that investment via a LEU reactor. The lease of the Akula (Chakra-II) was also a huge help for India. BARC is rumoured to have taken significant design inputs from the 190 MW OK-650 HEU reactor from the Akula, for its own 190MW CLWR-B2 HEU reactor for Project 75 Alpha.
Paul Keating has the luxury of saying whatever he wants, because he is no longer PM of Australia. He was PM in the early to mid 90s, when China was akin to a baby Panda. That is not the situation today. AUKUS, while inordinately expensive, is very much needed for Australia. If not properly managed, AUKUS will bankrupt the Aussies. But that is a risk the Aussies have to manage. Our situation is marginally better, as we are not buying an entire boat from another country. But this capability is indeed not cheap.
There are three projects, IMVHO, that India must properly and regularly fund (at the expense of imports);
1) Project 75 Alpha - the SSN program
2) Project S5 - follow on SSBN program
3) IAC-2 and IAC-3
Everything else (MRFA, MRCBF, etc) must take a back seat to the above. From the above three, will springboard a number of local programs.
Some examples are;
* Improved USHUS sonar for P75A and Project S5
* Towed Array Sonar (for P75A and Project S5) from the recently formed Towed Array Integration Facility, which was set up in 2022 by then Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu -->
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetai ... ID=1786957
* Improved Varunastra heavy torpedoes for P75A and Project S5
* BrahMos / Nirbhay VLS cells for P75A
* TEDBF & DBMRH for IAC-2, IAC-3 and even IAC-1
But if there is no consistent funding for 1, 2 and 3...none of the above will come in any decent time. It is symbiotic.