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Inside India’s big plan to counter China on seabed battlefront

Pratap Vikram Singh

June 18, 2025 | 10 Min Read

India plans a Rs 4,000 crore public-private initiative to build critical undersea cable repair capacity, as fears grow over geopolitical sabotage and gaps in regulatory readiness.

Key Takeaways

India is mulling an ambitious plan to set up undersea communication cable laying and repair vessel and facility amid growing threat from China
The Indian navy has spotted Chinese submersibles mapping the Indian undersea cables in deep waters in the Arabian sea
A confidential report commissioned by the telecom dept and the NSCS has proposed a 10yr project involving budget of Rs 3000 cr to Rs 4000 cr
As the government examines the plan, it also needs to address a cobweb of regulations which slow down the repair work

As Yemen’s Houthi rebels intensified their attack in the Gulf of Aden in February of 2024, senior security officials 3,000 miles away in New Delhi were in a bit of panic. The four communications cables connecting Asia to Europe had been damaged in the offensive. It turned out that the impact wasn’t significant, as the telecom companies could route traffic through other subsea cables.

The following month, officials at the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), the apex body on all matters related to security, held a meeting with India’s top telcos, including Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Communications.

“What if the nightmare comes true: what if all cables coming from Strait of Bab el-Mandeb between Yemen and Africa towards India are disconnected?” a top security official asked the participating companies.

“We will route it through the east,” a telco executive responded, suggesting that the threat was manageable.

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