India, the world's most populous country, consumes about 20% of all global online data. Despite this, the nation's reliance on undersea cables—vital for international internet connectivity—is a significant concern. These cables carry data across oceans, enabling global communication. However, India is connected to only about 3% of the world's undersea cables, even though it is one of the largest internet markets. The country currently has 18 undersea cables, 11 of which are over 20 years old, while the typical lifespan of such cables is around 25 years. Most of these cables—13 in total—are concentrated in a narrow six-kilometer stretch along Mumbai’s coast, handling 95% of the country’s international internet traffic to Europe, Africa, and Western Asia. This concentration of cables in Mumbai creates a major vulnerability. A single disruption in that area could severely impact the country’s global internet connections. While large-scale sabotage is not a common threat, frequent incidents such as ship anchors or fishing activities damage the cables, with 150 to 200 such events reported annually. If a major cable break occurs in Mumbai, land-based backup systems would activate to prevent a total internet collapse, but these systems cannot fully replace the lost bandwidth, leading to significant slowdowns or outages. India currently lacks its own cable repair ships, which are essential for quickly fixing undersea cable issues. As a result, the country must rely on foreign vessels, which require time to obtain permission to enter its territorial waters. This dependency slows down the response to major outages. While plans to install new cables and diversify internet traffic exist, such projects require three to four years of planning and an additional two years for installation. Moreover, the involvement of more than 15 different government agencies in decision-making often delays progress. The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and the expansion of data centers are adding to the strain on India’s digital infrastructure. The capacity of data centers has surged from 375 megawatts to 1,575 megawatts in recent years, but the existing network is already saturated. This has led to local internet outages in major cities like New Delhi. In such situations, the government sometimes advises citizens to use decentralized messaging apps like Bitchat, which use Bluetooth technology to enable communication without relying on the internet.