Bharti Airtel Ltd. has become one of the largest investors in undersea cables connecting India to the global internet. An Airtel spokesperson said, “Today, we operate India’s largest undersea cable portfolio, with over 4,00,000 route kilometres across 50 countries in five continents and investments in more than 34 marquee systems such as i2i, EIG, IMEWE, and SEA-ME-WE-4, making us one of the most extensively connected providers globally.” These undersea cables are vital for carrying internet content and phone data to India from abroad. India has over 400 terabits per second capacity on these cables. However, if all 4.5 crore fixed-line broadband users downloaded from overseas at once, speeds would drop sharply, showing the need for more capacity. Most cables land at Mumbai and Chennai. India has fewer landing cables than Singapore, despite its larger population. Airtel noted about half of India’s subsea capacity comes from projects where it is a consortium member. In 2025, Airtel connected India directly to the SEA ME WE 6 cable, landing it in Mumbai and Chennai, adding 220 Tbps of capacity on a 21,700 km system between Singapore and France. The company said, “You will continue to see us invest aggressively so that India not only keeps pace with global demand but truly emerges as a regional and global hub for subsea connectivity.” Airtel also called for policy changes to help subsea cable growth, including tax breaks, customs duty cuts, streamlined permits, and recognizing subsea cable work as essential services. They said India’s subsea capacity must grow 4 to 5 times to meet future needs and become a global transit hub. “Industry estimates suggest that to fully realise India’s potential as a global transit hub, subsea infrastructure capacity will need to expand by roughly 4-5 times, supported by a strong pipeline of new systems landing on the Indian coastline in the next few years,” Airtel added.