Microsoft-Led Consortium To Build AI-Ready Undersea Cable For India

A consortium including Microsoft and telecom start-up Lightstorm is planning to build a new undersea cable, which will connect India with Malaysia and Singapore. This comes amid technology firms' increasing focus on expanding AI and cloud infrastructure in one of the world's fastest-growing data markets, Reuters reported.

The consortium's other members include Tata Communications, Singapore Telecommunications, Singapore's ASEAN Cableship, and Japan's NEC Corporation.

The firms announced on Thursday that the consortium will build the cable, called I-2SEA, to handle AI, cloud, and hyperscale computing workloads. They did not reveal the size of the investment.

Consortium and Cable Details

According to report, the network will extend 3,600 km and include landing stations in Machilipatnam, located in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where both Meta and Alphabet have announced plans for data centres.

The cable is projected to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2029, Lightstorm Group CEO and Managing Director Amajit Gupta told Reuters in an interview.

Gupta said that the I Squared-backed firm currently links 19 AI and cloud zones across India through terrestrial fibre networks, and that the new subsea connection is expected to increase this to 29 zones.

India's Data Centre and Cable Capacity

Citing a Macquarie Equity Research report from last October, Reuters reported that India’s active data centre capacity, currently at 1.4 gigawatts, could double by 2027 based on facilities already under construction, and may expand to five times its present level by 2030 if planned projects are accelerated.

Undersea cables handle about 95% of the world’s internet traffic. According to telecommunications research firm TeleGeography, India now operates 17 active submarine cables with a total theoretical capacity of 960 terabits per second, and at least 10 additional cables have already been publicly announced.

Gupta said that Lightstorm intends to pursue a separate listing in India by mid-2027, though he did not provide additional information. The report also noted that, as of March, the company was targeting a valuation of up to $1.5 billion.

Data Centre in Jamnagar

Earlier in June, Meta partnered with Reliance Industries to build its first large-scale AI-ready data centre campus in India, marking a major expansion of its infrastructure footprint in the country.

The facility will be developed at Reliance’s hyperscale campus in Jamnagar, Gujarat, where Meta will lease 168 megawatts of capacity, with the option to scale further. The move establishes Meta’s physical AI infrastructure presence in its key growth market.

Meta will power the entire campus using renewable energy and cool it with desalinated seawater, with all associated costs to be borne by the company.

The facility will also be connected to Project Waterworth, Meta’s subsea cable network, which is expected to be one of the world’s longest systems, linking Jamnagar directly to its global digital backbone.