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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1697
ANSWERED ON 29TH JULY, 2026
INCREASING OPTICAL FIBER CONNECTIONS IN INDIA
1697. SHRI MAGUNTA SREENIVASULU REDDY:
SHRI PUTTA MAHESH KUMAR:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:
(a) the details of the total length of optical fiber connections that have been proposed, under
process and functional at present from India, State-wise especially from Andhra Pradesh;
(b) whether the Government has undertaken any steps to increase production of undersea optical
fiber connections in the country and if so, the details thereof including a list of schemes /initiatives
regarding the same;
(c) the details of the total amount of funding allocated, released and utilised for increasing
production of optical fiber connections (especially undersea) in the country, State-wise particularly
Andhra Pradesh;
(d) whether the Government has conducted any training/skilling initiatives for specialised labour
to undertake maintenance and laying of optical fiber cables across the country; and
(e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)
(a) The international submarine cables providing connectivity from India are owned and
operated by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) based on their techno-commercial requirements. The
total length of operational international submarine cables landing in India is 1,67,068 Km. The total
length of proposed international submarine cables landing in India is 1,18,399 Km. The details are
enclosed as Annexure.
(b) No.
(c) No, in view of (b).
(d) No.
(e) The laying and maintenance of submarine cable systems constitute a niche segment, and the
associated skilling and training are undertaken by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in association
with Marine Service Providers (MSPs) based on their techno-commercial requirements.
1Annexure
Length of Submarine Cable Systems landing in India (Operational)
Sl No Name of the Submarine Cable System Location of Cable Length of the
Landing Station Submarine
Cable System
(in kilometers)
1 FLAG Europe Asia (FEA: Fiber-Optic Link Maharashtra 28000
Around the Globe)
2 SEA ME WE 4 (South-East Asia Middle East- Maharashtra, Tamil 19016
Western Europe 4) Nadu
3 Falcon (Flag Alcatel-Lucent Optical Network - Maharashtra 1743
1)
4 SEA Cable + TGN EA (SEACOM) Maharashtra 9600
5 IMEWE (India-Middle East- Western Europe) Maharashtra 12091
6 EIG (Europe India Gateway) Maharashtra 15000
7 GBICS (Gulf Bridge International Cable Maharashtra 2830
System)
8 MENA (Middle East North Africa) Maharashtra 6157
9 TGN Gulf (Tata Global Network-Gulf) Maharashtra 4031
10 BBG (Bay of Bengal Gateway) Maharashtra, Tamil 8081
Nadu
11 AAE-1 (Asia Africa Europe- 1) Maharashtra 25000
12 Network I2I Tamil Nadu 3264
13 SAFE (South Africa Far East) Kerala 13500
14 TIISC (Tata Indicom India- Singapore Cable Tamil Nadu 3175
System)
15 Bharat Lanka Cable System (BLCS) Tamil Nadu 323
16 Falcon (Flag Alcatel-Lucent Optical Network - Kerala 1140
2)
17 IAX (India Asia Xpress) Maharashtra, Tamil 6917
Nadu,
18 Myanmar/Malaysia India Singapore Transit Maharashtra, Tamil 7200
(MIST) Nadu
Total 167068
Length of Submarine Cable Systems landing in India (Proposed)
Sl No Name of the Submarine Cable System Location of Cable Length of the
Landing Station Submarine
Cable System
(in kilometers)
1 IOC (Indian Ocean Cable) Maharashtra 4000
2 IEX (India Europe Xpress) Cable System Maharashtra 9692
3 2Africa Cable System Maharashtra 45000
4 SEA-ME-WE-6 (South East Asia–Middle East– Maharashtra, Tamil 21773
Western Europe-6) Cable System Nadu
5 Raman Cable System Maharashtra 6770
6 Waban Cable System Maharashtra 13943
7 Andhra Pradesh, 2900
Bay of Bengal Cable System
Tamil Nadu
8 Wyasa Cable System Tamil Nadu 8463
9 I-2SEA (India to South-East Asia) Cable Andhra Pradesh, 3630
System Tamil Nadu
10 IAX (India Asia Xpress) (additional/new West Bengal, Andhra 2228
segment) Pradesh
Total 118399
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