Deep Sea Cables, Digital Dreams: India’s Growth Tangled in Red Tape

India is slowly adding new undersea cable systems that help connect the country to the rest of the world through the internet.

The latest addition is the 2Africa Pearls cable system, launched by Airtel with support from major global companies like Meta (the company behind Facebook). This cable brings a massive speed boost of 100 terabits per second, acting like a super-fast digital highway that moves internet data in and out of India.

Earlier this year, another important cable named SEA-ME-WE-6 was also connected to Chennai and Mumbai.

These undersea cables are like giant data pipelines, helping India stay strongly connected to global internet networks. They make internet services faster, smoother, and more reliable for everyone in the country.

Undersea Cables: The Hidden Backbone of the Digital World

Undersea cables are the backbone of global internet connections. They link internet service providers and telecom companies in one country to those in others, making worldwide communication possible.

These cables are only a few inches wide but are built with strong protective layers to survive the tough conditions at the bottom of the ocean.

Inside these undersea cables are thin strands (long, thread-like wires) made of fiber optics. These are similar to the cables that telecom companies use to connect mobile towers, internet centers, and devices like routers. They can carry massive amounts of data at high speeds, allowing information to travel quickly across countries and continents.

This is how people around the world stay connected — through phone calls, video chats, emails, and internet services.

From the Ocean to Land: How the Cables Work

At certain spots along the coast, these undersea cables rise up from the ocean and reach the land. These spots are called “landing points.”

They are usually protected by a manhole with a lid, hidden under sand to prevent damage. From there, the cables continue underground to a nearby building called a “landing station.” This is where they connect to major internet networks, making the data traveling through the sea available for use on land.

The Big Picture: Why These Cables Matter

Speaking to The Hindu, a respected national media outlet, Amajit Gupta — CEO of Lightstorm — shared some important insights.

According to a report by Goldman Sachs, there are nearly 600 undersea cables in use around the world today.

He explained that these cables:

 

Carry about 90% of the world’s internet data

Support 80% of global trade

Handle nearly $10 trillion in financial transactions

Even transmit secure government information

This shows just how critical these cables are to the modern world. They don’t just support communication — they help power economies, protect sensitive data, and connect nations.

How Undersea Cables Work with Land Networks

Each modern undersea cable is designed to handle very high speeds — several hundred gigabits per second. This means a single cable can support thousands of users at the same time, making it possible for people to browse the internet, make video calls, stream content, and more without slowdowns.

But undersea cables are only one part of the whole system.

Once the data comes to land through these cables, it needs to travel further to reach homes, offices, and mobile phones. That’s where land-based networks, also called terrestrial networks, come in. These are networks of underground cables, internet towers, and data centers that carry the internet from the coastline to cities, towns, and villages.

While undersea cables are carefully mapped and tracked, these land networks are less visible but just as important in delivering internet access to people.

Together, undersea and land networks form a powerful system that keeps the world connected.

India’s Key Undersea Cable Landing Points

India has two main locations where undersea internet cables connect to the country — Mumbai and Chennai.

According to Mr. Amajit Gupta, about 95% of all subsea cables (also called undersea cables — long fiber optic cables laid on the ocean floor to carry internet data between countries) in India come through a small six-kilometre stretch in Versova, Mumbai. This makes it one of the busiest cable landing zones in the country. Interestingly, many of the cables that reach Chennai are also linked to Mumbai, showing how important this region is for internet connectivity.

In total, 17 undersea cable systems connect to India, making the country a key player in global internet traffic.

Apart from international connections, India also has two domestic undersea cable projects:

The Chennai–Andaman and Nicobar Islands (CANI) cable, which provides high-speed internet to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Kochi–Lakshadweep cable project, which connects the Lakshadweep Islands to mainland India

These domestic cables help bring fast internet to remote island regions, improving communication and supporting development in those areas.Together, these international and domestic connections are helping build a stronger, more connected India.

 

India’s Limited Role in Global Internet Infrastructure

Speaking to The Hindu, Aruna Sundararajan — former Union IT and Telecom Secretary and current Chairperson of the Broadband India Forum (BIF) — shared an important insight about India’s position in the global internet network.

She highlighted that:

India has only about 1% of the world’s cable landing stations, and

Roughly 3% of the global subsea cable systems are connected to India.

This shows that India’s share in the global internet infrastructure is still quite small, and there is a strong need to expand and strengthen the country’s role in this critical area for digital growth and connectivity.

India’s Internet Faces Risk Due to Fewer Cable Landings

India has fewer undersea cable landings compared to Singapore, a much smaller country. This makes India more vulnerable if something goes wrong with the cables at sea.

Amajit Gupta explained, “If there’s a disruption near the Red Sea, it can affect around 25% of India’s internet traffic.” He pointed out that this isn’t just a guess — it actually happened about two years ago.

He was referring to an incident in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow and important waterway where many subsea cables pass through. During that time, some cables were damaged, likely due to attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen, causing major disruptions.

This highlights the importance of strengthening India’s internet infrastructure, including adding more cable landing points, to reduce the risk of large-scale internet outages.

Why Cable Cuts Could Be a Bigger Problem in the Future

Some undersea cables were damaged in 2024, but so far, India’s internet has not been badly affected. This is because other cable networks had enough extra capacity to handle the traffic.

However, experts warn that this safety net may not always be enough.

If several cables in the Red Sea are damaged at the same time, it could cause major internet slowdowns or outages. While some data can be rerouted through other cable systems, there’s a limit to how much traffic they can handle.

This means that future cable cuts could have a bigger impact, especially if India doesn’t build more alternative routes and improve its internet infrastructure.

Subsea Cables Often Follow Old Trade Routes

According to Mr. Amajit Gupta, most undersea cable routes still follow the old sea trade paths that ships used in the past. He explained that this isn’t a coincidence.

“Long ago, it was easier to lay cables along established shipping routes,” he said. “That’s why subsea cables were usually built along the same paths that ships used for trade.”

 

Even today, many of the undersea internet cables follow those same traditional trade routes, as they were considered practical and well-mapped paths for laying infrastructure.

This shows how historical trade patterns continue to influence modern internet connectivity across the world.

Too Many Permissions Slow Down Cable Projects in India

One of the main challenges faced by companies that lay undersea cables in India is the lengthy and complicated approval process.

According to Mr. Amajit Gupta, getting permission to land just one undersea cable in India requires around 51 clearances. And it’s not just from the Department of Telecom.

He explained that companies also need approvals from other departments like the Home Ministry, Environment Ministry, Department of Fisheries, local municipalities, and several more.

This long list of permissions makes the process slow and difficult, which can discourage companies from investing in building more cable connections in the country.

Most Challenges Happen Near the Shore, Not in the Deep Sea

Scott Cowling, a senior executive at Meta who oversees the company’s global network infrastructure, shared that the toughest part of laying an undersea cable isn’t in the deep ocean—but near the coastlines.

He explained, “If I were to start building an 8,000-mile (about 12,875 km) transoceanic cable system tomorrow, I know that 80% of my time and effort would go into dealing with the short stretches of coastal waters—just 24 miles (around 39 km) from the shore—at both ends of the cable.”

In simple terms, even though the cable travels thousands of kilometers under the sea, most delays and challenges happen in the small areas close to land, where the cable enters or exits a country. This is mainly due to complex regulations, permissions, and local conditions in these territorial waters.

India Needs Better Protection and Repair Support for Undersea Cables

Along with simplifying the rules for laying undersea cables, protecting these cables is also very important.

Rahul Vatts, Chief Regulatory Officer at Bharti Airtel, shared a common problem: “Fishing trawlers often damage our cables,” he said, highlighting how accidental cable cuts disrupt services.

A fishing trawler is a large fishing boat that drags a heavy fishing net (called a trawl) through the sea to catch fish.

These boats often move across the ocean floor, and their nets or equipment can accidentally damage undersea cables that are lying on the seabed. That’s why fishing trawlers are sometimes a threat to internet cables under the sea.

 

When damage happens, India depends on foreign ships to carry out the repairs. But these ships need special permissions before they can start working in Indian waters, which causes delays.

Aruna Sundararajan, former IT and Telecom Secretary, pointed out that India does not currently have its own specialized ships or storage facilities needed for undersea cable repairs. She emphasized the need for more investment within the country to build this capability.

Building local resources for cable maintenance would help India respond faster to cable damage and ensure stable internet connectivity, even during emergencies.

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