India will set up an early warning system for tsunamis in the Indian Ocean and share its predictions with other countries, Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said Monday.

The government will invest Rs.1.25 billion on the system, which will also warn against storm surges and cyclones that strike the Indian coast every year.

Indian scientists will work with international experts on the warning system in February.

"We are ready to share the information with all the countries in the Indian Ocean. But how much to share, and when to give out the warnings, will be decided by the government," Sibal said.

K. Radhakrishnan, director of the Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service, said the system would start functioning in September 2007.

Radhakrishnan recently attended the UN-led world disaster management conference at Kobe, Japan.

He said India would have to install bottom pressure recorders near the earthquake-prone Java, Sumatra, Andaman Islands, Myanmar and north Arabian Sea. Tide gauges near the coastal areas will monitor the sea level.

Tsunamis struck countries in the Indian Ocean Dec 26 and killed several thousands. The giant waves flattened towns and displaced thousands more. Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India were the worst hit.

According to Sibal, the tsunami warnings would be sent out using the Indian Ocean for Global Ocean Observing System. The countries would have to set up the receiving stations.

Scientists at the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, will soon start research on the system. India will also take part in meetings at Phuket Friday and in Paris March 3 to discuss the sharing of information on tsunamis.