India Enters Diving Equipment Manufacturing With New iNDiC Brand

India has taken a significant step towards establishing its own diving equipment manufacturing capability with the launch of iNDiC, a new range of underwater systems developed and manufactured in the country.

Launched by Bengaluru-based Planet Scuba India, iNDiC brings together diving systems, underwater electronics, marine mobility and life-support technologies under a single Indian brand.

Planet Scuba India describes iNDiC as India’s first indigenous diving equipment brand. While The Scuba News has not independently established the historical “first” claim, the wider significance of the launch is clear: a company that has spent nearly two decades supplying international diving technology in India is now moving towards designing and manufacturing its own underwater systems.

From Equipment Supplier to Manufacturer

Planet Scuba India was founded in 2008 and has built much of its specialist experience around professional and military diving.

The launch of iNDiC represents a considerable change in direction.

Rather than primarily bringing overseas diving technology into the Indian market, the company is developing an indigenous portfolio intended to combine Indian engineering and manufacturing with technology and operational experience accumulated from the international diving industry.

The programme was initially shaped around requirements of the Indian Armed Forces, but Planet Scuba says the equipment is being developed with a wider international market in mind.

That potentially makes iNDiC more significant than simply another domestic equipment launch.

India has a substantial engineering and defence manufacturing sector, yet the specialist underwater breathing, communications and diver mobility market continues to feature many long-established international manufacturers. Planet Scuba is attempting to build a broader domestic underwater technology ecosystem within that space.

From Rebreathers to Diver Propulsion Vehicles

The scale of the initial programme is particularly noteworthy.

Rather than launching with a single product category, iNDiC has several technologies at different stages of production, testing and certification.

PranKosh is an open-circuit diving system, while Meen CR is being developed as a combat rebreather.

SagarCom covers wireless underwater communications, and Garuda is a helicopter emergency breathing system.

The Matsya diver propulsion vehicle adds underwater mobility to the portfolio.

Together, the products put breathing apparatus, communications, life support and diver propulsion within the same development programme.

Planet Scuba has already demonstrated some domestic underwater technology capability. Its existing Vaaricom Surface Station, for example, is described by the company as a Made in India surface communication system for supporting communications with divers.

DRDO Laboratory Director Launches iNDiC

The new brand was formally launched by R. Indu Shekar, director of India’s Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory, or DEBEL.

DEBEL forms part of India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation and works in areas that include breathing and life-support technology.

His presence at the launch is particularly relevant given iNDiC’s initial focus on military and professional diving applications.

Planet Scuba says its indigenous programme now encompasses open-circuit equipment, combat rebreathers, diver propulsion vehicles and other underwater technologies, with the Indian Armed Forces forming an important initial market.

Designed in India, But Not Only for India

Perhaps the most interesting part of the announcement for the wider diving industry is Planet Scuba’s international ambition.

The equipment may have emerged from Indian operational requirements, but iNDiC is being positioned for eventual use beyond the domestic market.

That puts the company on a considerably more challenging path.

Developing specialist underwater equipment is one thing. Establishing confidence in life-support equipment, completing appropriate testing and certification, building an international distribution and servicing network and persuading professional users to move away from established manufacturers are considerably larger hurdles.

Several iNDiC technologies remain at different stages of production, testing and certification, so it is still too early to judge how much of the portfolio will ultimately reach widespread operational or commercial use.

Nevertheless, the launch represents an interesting development for the international diving equipment sector.

India is already investing heavily in domestic defence and maritime capability. With iNDiC, that push towards indigenous engineering is now reaching the specialist equipment carried by divers beneath the surface.

For an industry historically centred around manufacturers in Europe, North America and parts of Asia, another country attempting to establish a complete underwater equipment manufacturing ecosystem is worth watching.