Undersea Cables and India's Internet in 2026: Every Route, the Red Sea and Hormuz Risk, and What It Means for AI
Short answer: almost all of India's international internet traffic, including every request to an AI model hosted abroad, travels through undersea fibre-optic cables. India is served by about 17 to 19 international subsea cables landing at about 14 cable landing stations in five coastal cities, with roughly 193 Tbps of lit capacity reported at the end of 2024.
That network has a weak point. According to Khaleej Times, about 60% of India's internet traffic runs over the Mumbai-to-Europe route, which passes the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. Cables on that route were cut in February 2024 and again in September 2025, and a repair in Indian waters typically takes four to five months because India has no cable repair ship of its own.
We reviewed 14 public sources, including TRAI recommendations, government statements, operator announcements and news reports from 2021 to 2026, to explain how India's subsea network works, which cables carry the traffic, what happens when one is cut, and what it means for AI services used in India.
Key findings
- A small number of cities carry India's connection to the world. Sources list Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Tuticorin and Thiruvananthapuram as landing cities, with Mumbai and Chennai the two major hubs.
- India hosts about 1% of the world's cable landing stations, according to TRAI chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti, who called for a tenfold expansion.
- Traffic is concentrated on one route. Khaleej Times reports about 60% goes west from Mumbai towards Europe and about 40% goes east from Chennai towards Singapore.
- Cuts are no longer rare. In February 2024, three Red Sea cables were damaged, affecting about 25% of traffic in the region according to HGC Global Communications. In September 2025, two more were cut near Jeddah, slowing internet in India.
- Repairs are slow. Developing Telecoms reports repairs typically take four to five months and India relies entirely on foreign repair fleets based in Singapore and Dubai.
- New capacity is arriving. SEA-ME-WE 6 and 2Africa Pearls landed in India in 2024 and 2025, Jio's IAX and IEX systems add more than 200 Tbps, and Meta has announced a 50,000 km cable called Waterworth.
How we reviewed the evidence
This is a literature review, not original network measurement. We grouped sources into regulator documents and statements (TRAI and the Department of Telecommunications), operator and consortium announcements (Airtel, Jio, Meta), incident reports on cable cuts, and industry analysis. Where sources give different figures for the same thing, such as the number of cables or total capacity, we show the range and name the source.
How your AI request reaches the world
When you use an AI service hosted outside India, your request leaves your phone, crosses India's domestic fibre network to a coastal city, and enters a cable landing station. From there it travels along the seabed to Singapore, the Gulf or Europe, and on to the data centre that runs the model.
A cable landing station (CLS) is the building where an undersea cable comes ashore and connects to land networks. Sources describe Mumbai and Chennai as the two major CLS locations. New landing sites are being developed in Gujarat on the west coast and at Digha on the east coast, according to Light Reading.
India's subsea network in numbers
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| International subsea cables | About 17 (2025), about 19 (2026) | IANS, Outlook Business, Developing Telecoms |
| Cable landing stations | About 14 | IANS |
| Landing cities | Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Tuticorin, Thiruvananthapuram | IANS |
| Lit capacity, end 2024 | About 193 Tbps | Outlook Business |
| Activated capacity, end 2024 | About 148 Tbps | Outlook Business |
| Share of world's landing stations | About 1% | TRAI chairman |
Capacity has grown fast. TRAI data cited by Light Reading show international submarine capacity rising from about 9.1 Tbps in 2016 to about 83 Tbps in 2022, roughly nine times in six years. Outlook Business reported 193 Tbps of lit capacity by the end of 2024. These figures come from different measurements, so treat the trend, not the exact ratio, as the finding.
For comparison, TRAI's chairman noted that Singapore alone has 26 cables landing across three sites, as reported by Khaleej Times.
The two routes: west through the Red Sea, east through Singapore
Khaleej Times, citing industry sources in April 2026, describes India's international traffic as split across two directions:
| Route | Share of traffic | Systems named |
|---|---|---|
| West: Mumbai to the Gulf and Europe, via the Red Sea and near Hormuz | About 60% | AAE-1, FALCON, Tata TGN-Gulf, SEA-ME-WE 4, IMEWE |
| East: Chennai to Singapore and the Pacific | About 40% | Not individually listed in the source |
The western route matters because Europe and the Middle East are major destinations for Indian traffic, and the shortest path to Europe runs through the Red Sea and across Egypt. Khaleej Times reports that 17 submarine cables pass through the Red Sea, which makes it one of the busiest and most exposed chokepoints in the world's internet.
What happened when cables were cut
February 2024: three Red Sea cables damaged
In late February 2024, the Seacom, AAE-1 and EIG cables were knocked offline in the Red Sea. gCaptain reported that the International Cable Protection Committee considered the dragged anchor of the Rubymar, a cargo ship sunk after a Houthi attack, the most likely cause. HGC Global Communications estimated that about 25% of traffic in the region was affected. AAE-1 is one of the cables that carries Indian traffic west.
September 2025: SEA-ME-WE 4 and IMEWE cut near Jeddah
On 6 September 2025, the SMW4 and IMEWE cables were cut near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, according to Telecom Review. NetBlocks reported noticeable degradation for users in India, the UAE and Pakistan. Microsoft said users of its Azure cloud whose traffic passed through the Middle East could see higher latency, and that it was rerouting traffic through other paths.
2026: wartime risk
In April 2026, Khaleej Times reported that the government had asked telecom operators to analyse their exposure to cables near Hormuz and the Red Sea, and that the ongoing Middle East conflict was making repairs and maintenance harder. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Tata Communications and Vodafone Idea were named as exposed.
Why repairs take months
A cable fault is not fixed where it happens. A specialised ship must sail to the site, locate the break on the seabed, lift both ends and splice in new cable. Developing Telecoms reported in August 2026 that:
- Repairs of cables serving India typically take four to five months.
- India has no Indian-flagged or Indian-owned cable repair vessels and relies on foreign fleets based in Singapore and Dubai.
- Permissions involve several agencies, including shipping authorities, the Coast Guard and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- The Department of Telecommunications is working on a single-window portal for repair clearances, with March 2027 as a tentative target.
- Building a new repair ship would take three to four years, so retrofitting existing vessels is being considered.
During a repair, operators reroute traffic over other cables. That keeps services running, but longer paths and congested alternatives raise latency, which is exactly what Microsoft described in September 2025.
New cables coming to India
| Cable | Who | What the sources report |
|---|---|---|
| SEA-ME-WE 6 | Consortium, landed by Airtel | 21,700 km to Singapore and France. Landed in Mumbai in December 2024 and Chennai in 2025 |
| 2Africa Pearls | Meta-led consortium, landed by Airtel | 45,000 km, over 100 Tbps for India. Landed in Mumbai in March 2025 |
| India-Asia-Xpress (IAX) | Reliance Jio and partners | Mumbai and Chennai to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia. Its Sri Lanka segment is operational |
| India-Europe-Xpress (IEX) | Reliance Jio and partners | India to Italy via the Middle East and North Africa. Landings completed in Egypt and Greece in 2024 |
| Waterworth | Meta | Over 50,000 km linking India, the US and other regions. Announced in 2025 |
| Domestic island cables | Government projects | Chennai to Andaman and Nicobar (2,300 km) and Kochi to Lakshadweep |
Jio described IAX and IEX together as more than 200 Tbps and over 16,000 km when it announced them in 2021. Each new system adds capacity, but the review of incidents suggests diversity of route matters as much as raw capacity. Cables that avoid the Red Sea, or land on new parts of the coast, reduce the risk of one event cutting a large share of traffic.
What TRAI has recommended
TRAI's 2023 recommendations on submarine cable landing, as summarised by Light Reading, include:
- Essential services status for cable landing stations and for laying, maintaining and repairing subsea cables.
- Two types of landing station: a main CLS that seeks all permissions, and a CLS point of presence with lighter requirements, to encourage more landing sites.
- Lower costs: waiving right-of-way charges for fibre to landing stations and exempting repair and maintenance goods from customs duty and GST.
In 2025, TRAI's chairman said India should expand its landing station capacity tenfold to compete in the global data race, as reported by Outlook Business.
What this means for AI in India
- Latency rises when cables fail. AI apps calling models in Europe or the US can slow down during a cut, as traffic takes longer routes. Coding agents and voice apps, which make many calls, feel this most.
- Local data centres reduce exposure. Models served from data centres inside India avoid the subsea leg for Indian users. We covered India's data centre build-out in India's AI Data Centres in 2026.
- Route choice is a resilience choice. Developers can prefer providers with regions in India or Singapore, and use API gateways that can switch models or regions when one becomes slow.
- Physical infrastructure is now strategic. Chips, data centres and cables together decide how quickly and reliably Indian users can reach AI. Our report on Made in India chips covers the hardware side.
Frequently asked questions
How many submarine cables does India have?
About 17 to 19 international submarine cables, depending on the source and date. IANS reported about 17 cables at 14 landing stations in 2025, and Developing Telecoms reported about 19 in 2026.
Where do undersea cables land in India?
Mainly in Mumbai and Chennai, with other landing points reported in Kochi, Tuticorin and Thiruvananthapuram. New landing sites are being developed in Gujarat and at Digha in West Bengal.
Why did the internet slow down in India in September 2025?
The SEA-ME-WE 4 and IMEWE cables were cut in the Red Sea near Jeddah on 6 September 2025. NetBlocks reported degraded connectivity in India, and Microsoft warned of higher latency for traffic through the Middle East.
What share of India's internet traffic goes through the Red Sea?
Khaleej Times reported in April 2026 that about 60% of India's internet traffic runs over the Mumbai-to-Europe route, which passes the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.
How long does it take to repair an undersea cable near India?
Typically four to five months, according to Developing Telecoms, partly because India has no cable repair vessels of its own and relies on ships based in Singapore and Dubai.
What is a cable landing station?
A cable landing station is the facility where an undersea cable comes ashore and connects to domestic networks. India has about 14, which TRAI's chairman said is about 1% of the world's total.
Do undersea cables affect ChatGPT and other AI apps?
Yes, when the model runs outside India. Requests travel through subsea cables, so a cut on a major route can increase latency until traffic is rerouted or the cable is repaired.
Limits of this review
- No original measurement. We did not measure traffic or latency ourselves. All figures come from the sources below.
- Counts differ by source and date. Cable counts range from 17 to 19 and capacity figures use different definitions.
- Traffic shares come from one report. The 60% and 40% split is reported by Khaleej Times citing industry sources.
- Cable status changes. Ready-for-service dates for new systems are not always published, so we report what the sources state.
References
- India's internet at risk as Hormuz, Red Sea subsea cables face wartime threats, Khaleej Times, 1 April 2026
- India must build 10x more cable landing stations: TRAI chief, Outlook Business, March 2025
- India can become global hub for submarine telecom cable network, IANS via Telangana Today, March 2025
- India moves to reduce submarine cable repair delays, Developing Telecoms, 28 August 2026
- The lowdown on India's burgeoning submarine cable network, Light Reading
- Indian regulator recommends declaring subsea and CLS infra as critical services, Light Reading, June 2023
- International cable breaks in Red Sea cause latency surge across Asia and Gulf, Telecom Review, 6 September 2025
- Red Sea cable outage: internet disruptions in parts of Middle East, South Asia, The Week, 7 September 2025
- Rubymar anchor seen as likely cause of severed Red Sea cables, gCaptain, 6 March 2024
- Airtel connects India with 100 Tbps submarine cable, SubTel Forum, 28 March 2025
- Jio building largest international submarine cable system centred on India, ANI via ThePrint, 17 May 2021
- Sri Lankan portion of India-Asia-Xpress subsea cable now operational, DatacenterDynamics
- IEX submarine cable system, SubTel Forum
- Internet in India, Wikipedia (for island cable lengths)