There are two primary objectives of this study to design the titanium-based novel ENi-P composite coatings on naval grade AH36 steel through Taguchi DOE with the addition of Zwitterionic surfactant and identify the most significant factor which contributes to the enhancement of microhardness in the fabricatedcoatings. The L9 composite coatings are developed by varying bath temperature, pH, wt% of C14-SB and TiO₂ nanoparticles in the electroless bath. Each coatings elemental composition is investigated using SEM and EDAXanalysis. XRD peaks are matched with the peaks of Nickel, Phosphorous and Titanium contents in the deposits. The ANOVA and the S/N ratio were deduced and utilised to formulate the optimal combination of parameters for enhancing microhardness in the coatings. The predicted optimal coatings were validated with a confirmation run and achieved 54.66% microhardness enhancement compared with the initial condition and 196.4% improvement achieved with the substrate material AH36 steel. This experimental work proves its first kind oftitanium-based ENi-P coating over the marine grade AH36 steel substrate closely associated with defence applications.