How Coratia Technologies Is Protecting Undersea Data Highways With Marine Robots

Can machines come to the rescue when mankind faces a threat to its digital lifeline?  

Odisha-based Coratia Technologies is working precisely on this. “We deploy our robots in the ocean to carry out surveys, collect samples, and do the pre-emptive remote sensing to ward off any potential threat,” cofounder and chief executive Debendra Pradhan claimed.    

Coratia’s work attained significance in the wake of Iran threatening to blow up the undersea cable lines running deep down the Strait of Hormuz. The war in West Asia that flared up late in February has veered the global attention to the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. 

While a fifth of the global crude oil and natural gas shipments pass through the Strait, several fibre-optic cables are laid out on its seabed, connecting India and Southeast Asia to Europe through the Gulf states and Egypt.

Subsea cables carry around 99% of global internet traffic, enabling critical services such as financial transactions, cloud computing and government communications. For India, the undersea network in the Strait of Hormuz is vital for its internet connectivity. Any damage, whether it is caused by a deliberate attack or a careless fishing trawler, could mean internet slowdowns and outages in critical services, leading to major economic repercussions. 

Yet, India’s own cable-repair capabilities remain weak, pointed out Pradhan. That’s one of the problems that Coratia Technologies aims to fix with its indigenous robots carrying out inspection of underwater infrastructure. Founded in 2021 by Debendra Pradhan and Biswajit Swain, the company caught attention in its appearance in Shark Tank India Season 3. 

The deeptech startup has so far raised ₹22 Cr from investors like Piper Serica Angel Fund, MGF Kavachh and Pontaq Ventures. It also received support in the form of grants from various government bodies. Under the Ministry of Defence’s iDEX scheme, it bagged a high-profile ₹66 Cr contract to supply its robots to the Indian Navy. 

“We provide underwater infrastructure inspections of assets like bridges, dams, boats, docks, pipelines, cables, as well as underwater salvage and defence use cases like assessing threats. These robots can perform tasks beyond the capabilities of a human diver,” Pradhan said. 

The deepening crisis in West Asia and the recent threat to the undersea cables have not only stressed on the need for homegrown technology to protect the undersea infrastructure, but also strengthened the value proposition for companies like Coratia, which races with rivals like Planys Technologies and EyeROV on India’s $108.86 Mn undersea robotics turf that’s growing at 18.27% to reach $309.60 Mn by 2032. 

A Tech For The Deep Blue Sea

Coratia Technologies was cradled at NIT Rourkela, the alma mater of its two founders, who graduated in mechanical engineering in 2017. Pradhan and Swain had teamed up to work on an underwater robotics research project at the institute. 

“There was an open challenge for college students given by the Ministry of Earth Science, calling on young talents to work on problem statements pre-decided by the government. In our case, the problem statement was for engineering students to build robots that autonomously navigate underwater for a certain distance, using computer vision and remote sensing to avoid obstacles, and then fire a projectile to hit a target,” Pradhan recounted. 

“The novelty factor drew us in. Neither the government nor any private body had organised any such challenge relating to underwater robotics before. Back then, you would rarely find research in this space even at top engineering institutes.” 

The duo came first nationally and went on to participate in the even more rigorous Singapore Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Challenge the next year, where they ranked second. “I take pride in saying that we fought in an open competition against the best of the best from India and the world. The problem statements in these challenges were even harder than what we encounter in the real world,” he said. 

At the university, Pradhan and Swain collaborated with professors and academics to proceed with their idea. Even while working in the corporate world, they couldn’t shrug off the feeling that their university experiences in the world of marine robotics had foreshadowed a real-world market. 

Coratia Technologies was born in 2021 out of that urge to make a difference. 

Diving Deep Into The Technology 

Coratia has developed a portfolio of four core products – Jaladuta, Jalasimha, Oceanaus, and Navya – all built for distinct use cases. While the first three fall into the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) category, the last one is an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) used on the surface of a water body. 

“Jalasimha is a military-grade robot built for defence with a diving capability of 300 metres, and it can see in both clear as well as murky waters. It has a high endurance, a great deal of dynamic stability for usage in rough waters, and can host various payloads for positioning, data collection, and surveillance,” explained Pradhan. 

As the advanced model supplied to the Indian Navy, Jalasimha is equipped with a suite of various sensors including sonar and laser scaler, and also features a robotic arm that can be used to manipulate objects. 

“Jalasimha was equipped with the capability of inspecting undersea data cables, but we are yet to get a deployment order,” he noted. “It has applications in underwater warfare like detecting and planting mines and spotting intrusions in the waters, as well as in salvage operations in cases of wrecks and crashes.”

Jaladuta – the first model developed by Coratia – is designed for civilian and industrial use cases in inland areas such as monitoring structures like dams and bridges for corrosion, cracks, or defects. It is rated for a depth of up to 150 Metres. 

“Oceanaus is a more compact and lightweight robot with a modular design that helps the user select what payloads to use. Navya, on the other hand, is like an autonomous boat that can be used to carry out hydrographic survey and bathymetry, or study of river beds, lake beds, and ocean terrains,” the founder added. 

Croatia’s ROVs are of the ‘tethered’ type. They are connected to a system on the surface by a cable used for communication at the speed of light. This enables the operator to receive data from the robot on a  real-time basis. While the robots are able to navigate autonomously, the operator can also update their instructions through the system, thanks to the tether. The system operates without connecting to any external network in order to minimise cybersecurity risks. 

“Being a military-grade robot, Jalasimha is built according to naval standards and guidelines on data encryption and security,” Pradhan mentioned, refusing to share more details on the robot’s security specifications as its capabilities are confidential under the company’s contracts with defence entities. 

A Rough Sea Ride Ahead?

Coratia operates under a dual business model. “For contracts with Indian defence agencies, it is a direct sales model where they buy the product, we train them, and then their personnel operate the product on-site. We also offer our services on a contractual basis to our clients, where they bring us to the site and we operate our robots to do the inspection,” Pradhan said. 

While the crown jewel in the startup’s client portfolio is the naval contract it sealed last September, Coratia is also working on projects with the Coast Guard. Simultaneously, it works on projects for both public and private sector organisations, including the Indian Railways, Steel Authority of India Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Tata Steel, and Hindalco. 

Pradhan declined to share any specific figures on the company’s revenue or business, citing that the company is in the process of making critical strategic decisions. 

“We have a lot of repeat demand from our existing clients but, right now, our major focus is on R&D and defence contracts so we are not able to take up all the contracts coming our way. We intend to expand soon and cater to all the demand that is coming our way,” said the founder. 

All this may be easier said than done. Given the company’s positioning within the deeptech hardware space, hiring the right talent would prove to be a hurdle. “We have around 25 people on our team and 20 of them are full-time employees. Whoever joins our company would not have got the relevant experience anywhere because it’s a niche segment.” 

Another challenge the company could face is a drying funds tap. Even as deeptech became one of the most attractive sectors for investors in 2025, capital inflow continues to lag behind industries such as ecommerce and fintech. The government has moved to close the gap with schemes like the ₹1 Lakh Cr RDI fund and streamlining procurement contracts to promote indigenisation of defence technology. 

While Coratia seeks to propagate its robots in defence of India’s waters, the company looks to tap into the $3.5 Bn global market for marine robotics. It has so far proved its willingness to fight for the juiciest of prizes, whether it is a competition or a contract. Now it needs to show that it can continue scaling effectively.

[Edited by Kumar Chatterjee]

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