A consortium including Microsoft, Singapore startup Lightstorm, Tata Communications, Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), Singapore's ASEAN Cableship, and Japan's NEC Corporation announced plans to build the I-2SEA undersea cable linking India, Malaysia, and Singapore [1, 2, 3, 4].
The cable will span approximately 3,600 kilometers, with landing stations in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, where Meta and Alphabet have announced data centers [1, 2, 3, 4]. It aims to support AI, cloud, and hyperscale workloads and is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2029 [1, 2, 3, 4]. Lightstorm Group CEO Amajit Gupta said, "This cable is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2029" [1].
Lightstorm currently connects 19 AI and cloud zones across India via terrestrial fiber. Gupta said the new cable will increase this connectivity to 29 zones, expanding cloud infrastructure reach [1, 2]. India’s operational data center capacity is projected to double from 1.4 gigawatts by 2027 and increase five-fold by 2030 if projects are fast-tracked, according to a 2025 Macquarie Equity Research report [1, 2].
Undersea cables carry about 95% of global internet traffic. India currently has 17 active submarine cables with a maximum potential capacity of 960 terabits per second, and at least 10 additional cables have been announced [1, 2, 3, 4]. The I-2SEA cable will add significant capacity and diversity to India’s internet infrastructure.
Lightstorm intends to list on the Indian stock market by mid-2027 and seeks a valuation of up to $1.5 billion. Gupta noted, "Lightstorm plans to list in India in mid-2027, but without disclosing additional details" [1, 2].
The consortium’s next major milestone is Lightstorm’s planned IPO in June 2027, followed by the cable’s expected operational launch between October and December 2029 [1, 2, 3, 4].
