IIT Bhubaneswar and Coratia Technologies Partner to Develop Indigenous Underwater Communication Systems

IIT Bhubaneswar has partnered with Odisha-based Coratia Technologies to develop advanced underwater communication systems and robotic platforms for defence, maritime security, infrastructure monitoring and ocean exploration. The agreement was signed on Friday, Business Standard reported.

What the IIT Bhubaneswar and Coratia Agreement Covers

The partnership pairs IIT Bhubaneswar's expertise in underwater acoustic communication and signal processing with Coratia Technologies' work designing unmanned underwater vehicles. The two organisations will focus on high-data-rate and robust underwater communication systems, which face technical challenges because radio-frequency signals do not travel efficiently through water. Underwater communication relies largely on acoustic technologies, where signal attenuation, ambient noise, multipath propagation and changing underwater conditions can affect reliability and speed.

The collaboration will also work on integrating advanced communication modules with underwater vehicles to enable more reliable data exchange, monitoring and control during missions. Beyond research and design, the partnership covers joint technology development, prototyping, testing and field validation to move indigenous technologies into deployable systems. Potential applications include inspection and monitoring of dams, bridges, ports, pipelines and offshore assets, as well as defence and security, marine exploration, disaster management and scientific research.

Debendra Pradhan, co-founder and CEO of Coratia Technologies, said: "Our partnership with IIT Bhubaneswar brings together complementary expertise in underwater communication, signal processing and robotics, creating opportunities to take research beyond the laboratory and towards practical applications." P R Sahu, a professor at IIT Bhubaneswar, said the collaboration would help bring academic research closer to industry requirements.

Coratia Technologies has already signed a tripartite technology licensing agreement with the National Institute of Ocean Technology and the National Research Development Corporation for the autonomous underwater profiling drifter, an indigenous ocean-monitoring technology capable of measuring temperature, salinity and depth at depths of up to 2,000 metres.

Earlier IIT Bhubaneswar Partnerships

IIT Bhubaneswar signed a multi-institutional MoU with GRIDCO, CMET and MPUVNL to support clean energy transition and grid modernisation, The Times of India reported in November 2026. In July 2026, BIT Mesra and IIT Bhubaneswar signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding, extendable by mutual consent, to establish structured collaboration in research, academics, innovation and institutional capacity building, Entrepreneur India reported.

Underwater Robotics Deals Across the Sector

Indra led a Spanish alliance of seven firms to develop SIPRIS, a project to protect underwater cables and critical infrastructure, Yahoo reported on November 4, 2026. Cargill and Neptune Robotics entered an 18-month partnership under Singapore's MPA Innovation Programme to trial robotic hull cleaning on Cargill vessels, PR Newswire APAC reported on November 2, 2026. Unique Group announced an exclusive distribution agreement with Deep Trekker to become the official distributor of its battery-powered ROVs across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the company reported on November 3, 2026. Saab signed a contract with launch-customer Ocean Infinity for its latest underwater robot, Saab reported on November 11, 2026.