Results suggest that the anomalies occur over a magnetic crystalline basement at a depth of 1-1.2 km which is similar (in magnetization) to onshore basalts of Northwest India. These anomalies are believed to be an expression of a considerable thickness (around 1.7 km) of basalt, underlain by sediments. Identification of these basalts in offshore areas along the northwestern continental shelf of India would support (1) the idea that the onshore Deccan basalts of western India and the rhyolitic tuffs at the Laccadive ridge system (DSDP Site 210) are related to the same volcanic events, and (2) subsequently downfaulting of onshore Deccan basalts into the Arabian Sea and submergence below the Tertiary sediments.--Modified journal abstract.