India's tsunami warning system will be operational in two to three years' time, a government minister has said.
The $27m system will give the speed of a tsunami and the regions most at risk, said science and technology minister, Kapil Sibal.
The announcement came as the Indian navy said chances of finding more tsunami survivors were now remote.
More than 10,000 people died in India. Around 5,500 are still missing - almost all in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Swept clean
Speaking in Bangalore, Mr Sibal said the warning system would involve installing Deep Ocean Assessment Reporting Technology at a depth of six kilometres.
The warning system was formally agreed at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
The Andaman and Nicobar islands were hit soon after the earthquake on 26 December but the tsunami took a further two hours to reach the Indian mainland.
The navy said on Wednesday it would continue rescue operations but held out little hope of finding more survivors.
Indian naval chief Admiral Arun Prakash said: "Knowing the seas as they are it is unlikely that any more bodies will be recovered and the statistical chances of finding survivors is now very remote."
After visiting several affected islands in the archipelago, the admiral said: "I saw with great awe the mind-boggling destruction. Vegetation has been swept clean and habitats totally destroyed."
Relief workers are now struggling to provide shelter for up to 40,000 homeless people in the island chain before monsoon rains begin in April.
On the mainland, villages hit by the tsunami are hoping companies will adopt them to provide funding for communications and infrastructure on a long-term basis.
Government official in the worst hit district of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, J Radhakrishnan, told the AFP news agency: "We don't want people who come here for one or two days, do the rounds and go away."
He said leading firms Infosys and Tata were among those offering help.
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