Challenge details:

Electric utilities face challenges in accurately identifying underground cable & cable joints and the correct cables from above ground before excavation, particularly on live, operating power cables. In dense underground corridors with multiple parallel cables, the absence of clear identification creates uncertainty around joint location and cable selection. This increases the risk of damaging adjacent live cables, leads to safety incidents, and results in high excavation costs, often running into several thousand rupees per meter in urban areas such as Mumbai.

Today's approaches rely on fault‑location methods (such as TDR or cable thumping) which are shutdown‑based and offline testing, including signal injection. These methods are not suitable for routine pre‑excavation verification on healthy, energized cables and do not reliably provide positive confirmation of the exact cable and joint, especially in congested underground networks.

We are seeking a non‑invasive solution that enables above‑ground identification and confirmation of underground cable joints and cable identity, without excavation. The solution should allow the cable or joint to communicate with an above‑ground device, providing clear confirmation of joint presence, cable identification, and joint location, along with key details such as cable make, jointing date, and relevant specifications. It should also enable positive identification of the correct cable running in close proximity to other live cables, using an inbuilt cable identifier, without relying on offline signal injection, to support safer, faster, and more accurate excavation planning.