The work on the tsunami warning system India plans to set up in the Indian Ocean will start next month and become operational by 2007, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said in New Delhi on Monday.

India will provide relevant information obtained from the system to other Indian Ocean rim countries.

"The entire system will be operational by September 2007 while the key elements will be in place by March 2006," Sibal told reporters briefing them on the two-day brain-storming session on tsunami, which concluded last Saturday.

The system would also cover cyclones and storm surges.

He said India would instal Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting System in the two tsunami-prone zones in the Indian ocean - one running through the Java Sumatra-Myanmar-Andaman and Nicobar belt and the other in the North Arabian Sea - to record pressure.

The network of data buoys and water level gauges would be strengthened, Sibal said.

The minister said the technical issues pertaining to the development of the system would be discussed at an international workshop in Paris in the first week of March while regional issues would be discussed later.

Putting aside debate on how much data should be shared with other countries, he said, "There is no problem in sharing data. But the magnitude and intensity of an earthquake beyond which the information should be provided are yet to be decided by the government."

To receive the information, other countries in the rim would have to set up receiving stations, Sibal said.