In Brief
- High Concentration: 13 out of India's 18 intercontinental subsea fiber-optic cables land along a narrow coastal stretch near Versova Beach in Mumbai.
- Key Vulnerabilities: Physical cable cuts, anchor drags, natural disasters, or coastal infrastructure damage in this single area could disrupt large portions of India’s global internet traffic.
- Diversification Efforts: Experts stress the urgent need to expand cable landing stations to alternative coastal hubs, such as Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, and Tuticorin, to build nationwide resilience.
India’s digital infrastructure faces significant concentration risks due to its heavy reliance on Mumbai as the primary gateway for international internet traffic. Thirteen of the country's 18 subsea cable systems currently land near Versova, Mumbai, handling the vast majority of cross-border data transfer.
Industry analysts warn that this geographical bottleneck leaves India vulnerable to severe internet outages caused by localized physical events, maritime accidents, or cyber-physical threats. To mitigate these risks, telecom operators and regulatory bodies are being urged to accelerate the development of geographically distributed landing stations along India's eastern and southern coastlines.
