Great Nicobar Project in spotlight: Why is it of strategic importance to India?

Sonia Gandhi has hit out at the Modi government over the Great Nicobar mega-infrastructure project (Image: PTI)

The central government’s Great Nicobar Project is once again under attack. Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in a column on Monday, said that the infrastructure project is a “planned misadventure”.

In an op-ed, Sonia Gandhi hit out at the Modi government and said there has been no shortage of "half-baked and ill-conceived policymaking" in the last 11 years.

"The latest in this series of planned misadventures is the Great Nicobar mega-infrastructure project. The totally misplaced Rs 72,000 crore expenditure poses an existential danger to the island's indigenous tribal communities, threatens one of the world's most unique flora and fauna ecosystems and is highly susceptible to natural disasters," she said.

Ecologically, this project is nothing short of an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe, the Congress leader wrote, adding that it will require the cutting down of trees on an estimated 15 per cent of the island's land -- decimating a nationally and globally unique rainforest ecosystem.

The ministry of environment, forests, and climate change estimates that 8.5 lakh trees may be cut, Sonia Gandhi said.

What is the Great Nicobar Project?

The Great Nicobar Island Project is a major Indian government initiative on Great Nicobar Island aimed at holistic development and strategic positioning, featuring a transhipment port, an international airport, an energy plant, and a township.

A multi-billion-dollar strategic and infrastructural plan, the project received environmental and forest clearances (with conditions) in 2022. The total cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs 80,000 crore.

The project is being spearheaded by NITI Aayog and implemented through the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO). It aims to transport Great Nicobar into a hub of strategic, economic and tourism importance. The following are the key features –

International container transshipment terminal (ICTT): A deep-sea port at Galathea Bay with a capacity of approximately 16 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), leveraging Great Nicobar’s location near the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Greenfield International Airport: Aimed at handling both civilian as well as defense needs, it is projected to have a passenger capacity of around 4,000 per hour by 2050.

Township development: A planned city for approximately 300,000 to 400,000 people, featuring residential, commercial, and institutional spaces.

Power plant and infrastructure: A 450 MVA gas and solar-based power plant along with roads, water supply, and supporting infrastructure.

Why is the project important?

Strategically located near Malacca Strait

Great Nicobar’s proximity to the Six Degree Channel, a crucial passage near the Malacca Strait that carries 30–40 per cent of global trade and most of China’s energy imports, gives it immense strategic value. A new transshipment port and airport on the island would enable India to secure maritime traffic and challenge China’s expanding “String of Pearls” influence in the Indian Ocean.

Military & naval benefits

The planned dual-use international airport is aimed at serving both civilians as well as for defence purposes – enabling the swift deployment of Navy and Air Force in the Andaman & Nicobar Command, India’s only tri-services command.

It enhances India’s surveillance reach across the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal — strategic waters where foreign navies are increasingly active.

Keeping a close watch on China’s expansion

A world-class Indian port at Great Nicobar positions India as an alternative to China, which has invested heavily in ports across Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Africa, and Pakistan, seeking to increase its influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Environmental concerns

Concerns have been raised over the environmental impact of the project ever since it was announced. Opposition leaders have time and again expressed their worries over large-scale felling of forests (over 8 lakh trees) and threat to rare species (like Nicobar megapode and leatherback turtles).

“The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change has been claiming that 8.5 lakh trees will get felled while executing the Great Nicobar Integrated Development Project,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said last year.

“This has been known to be a gigantic under-estimate. Now we have independent estimates that anywhere between 32 lakh and 58 lakh trees will have to be destroyed. It could even be much more depending on the rich forest areas being cleared out,” he added further, calling on the project to be paused and reviewed thoroughly by an independent and professionally competent team.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has written to tribal affairs minister Jual Oram expressing deep concern over the alleged violation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in the grant of clearances to the Great Nicobar Project and urged the government to ensure adherence to the due process prescribed under the law.

In his letter to Oram, the Congress leader urged him to examine the concerns raised by the Tribal Council and the local communities over the project, and asserted that any development initiative must be grounded in the constitutional values of justice, equality, and respect for human dignity.