KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- At least 13 of India’s 18 intercontinental cable systems land within roughly six kilometres of Versova, Mumbai.
- That cluster carries up to 95 percent of international bandwidth toward Europe, Africa and West Asia.
- India consumes about 20 percent of global data but connects to only around three percent of the world’s submarine cable systems.
- Eleven of the 18 systems are over 20 years old, and India has no domestic cable-repair vessel fleet.
Subsea cable disruption India risk is the exposure of Indian businesses to loss of international connectivity through the submarine cable systems and gateways carrying their traffic overseas. MitKat’s report assesses that risk across ten metro cities, and finds the greater danger often lies on land.
Why can a local fibre cut cause international isolation?
Three mechanisms. A site may have only one provider or physical fibre path, so a single cut severs all external networks. Providers may share the same ducts or aggregation nodes, so one event hits nominally separate circuits. Or a city stays connected domestically while losing its international gateway because the terrestrial route to the landing station is unavailable.
How concentrated is India’s subsea infrastructure?
India has 18 international cable systems and about 21 landing stations, against roughly 1,900 globally. At least 13 of the 18 land within approximately six kilometres around Versova in Mumbai, carrying up to 95 percent of international bandwidth toward Europe, Africa and West Asia.
How quickly can a cable fault be repaired?
Not quickly. Around 150 to 200 cable faults occur worldwide each year, and India maintains no domestic repair vessel fleet, so foreign vessels need Indian permissions to work in relevant waters. The Department of Telecommunications is developing a single-window clearance portal, targeted for March 2027.
Which cities are most exposed?
Mumbai and Chennai combine business concentration with international landing and gateway functions. Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Ahmedabad–Gandhinagar depend on domestic backbones to reach coastal gateways. Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata carry the highest weather exposure.
What has already gone wrong?
A 220kV cable fault at Hinjewadi, Pune in July 2025 affected around 52,000 consumers and 70 to 90 IT and ITES companies for up to two days. A Hyderabad cable-clearing drive in August 2025 affected over 100,000 broadband connections.
What should organisations do?
Obtain written confirmation that primary and backup links use separate building entries, ducts, aggregation facilities and domestic backbone routes. Confirm alternate routes reach more than one international gateway, and test failover under realistic traffic conditions.
Frequently asked questions
What is subsea cable disruption India risk?
Subsea cable disruption India risk is the exposure of Indian businesses to loss of international connectivity across every layer between their premises and the global network.
Does a city need a cable landing station to be at risk?
No. Pune, New Delhi, Gurugram and Ahmedabad–Gandhinagar have no landing station but depend on terrestrial routes to coastal gateways. Risk is set by route and gateway diversity, not distance from the sea.
Do two providers guarantee redundancy?
No. Separate providers can converge on the same building entry, duct, aggregation facility, domestic backbone or international gateway. Use different providers only where the underlying physical infrastructure and upstream networks are independent.
Download the full report now
MitKat’s special report on subsea cable disruption India risk runs to 24 pages, with city-level assessments for ten metros, ten planning scenarios rated by likelihood and impact, and resilience recommendations. Download the full report now.
Filed under: India-South AsiaThreat Intelligence Special Reports