Great Nicobar Island Development Project is a planned mega-infrastructure project for the southern tip of

Great Nicobar Island Great Nicobar is the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra. It is part of India, in the Nicobar district within the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. History The Nicobar Island has been ...

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated f ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The island comes under the

Nicobar district Nicobar district is one of three districts in the Indian union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The district's administrative territory encompasses all of the Nicobar Islands, which are located in the Indian Ocean, between the Bay ...

administriation in the Indian

union territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

History

Feasibility report, commissioned by NITI Aayog, was prepared by AECOM India. On 25 May 2021, terms of reference of project was granted after meeting held by Expert Appraisal Committee.

Geography

Excluding the area from Campbell Bay on western side of the island to the Galathea Bay in the south and the whole southern tip, the rest of

is part of

Galathea National Park Galathea National Park is a national park located in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. It is located on the island of Great Nicobar in the Nicobar Islands, which lie in the eastern Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal). The ...

and the larger Campbell Bay National Park. Galathea River, flowing north to south, meets the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

at Galathea Bay.Are Giant Leatherback hatchlings from Galathea Bay being relocated?
The Hindu, 16 Mar 2025.

Indira Point Indira Point, the southernmost point of India's territory, is a village in the Nicobar district at Great Nicobar Island of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India. It is located in the Great Nicobar tehsil. Rondo Island, Indonesia's northernmos ...

in the Galathea Bay, India's southernmost point, is 145 km or 80 nautical miles north of Indonesia's northernmost island,

Rondo Island Rondo Island (; ) is Indonesia's northernmost territory,2007Atoll Research Bulletin Issue 544, Page 48] located in the Andaman Sea, with a 0.650 km2 area 35m above sea level. The island is one of the outlying islands of Indonesia in the Ace ...

in Sabang, Indonesia, Sabang district of

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

province of

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

, near to which is Indonesia's deep sea port, Sabang, Indonesia, Sabang (612 km or 330 nautical miles south of Indira Point), jointly upgraded by India and Indonesia in 2019 under the strategic military and economic collaboration to protect the channel between Great Nicobar Island and Rondo Island.India seeks to aid Indonesia in developing port in Aceh
Economic Times, 19 May 2018. Holistic Master Plan for this project, outside the Galathea National Park, covers an area of 166.10 sq km covering seven revenue villages, which fall under the jurisdiction of three Gram Panchayats.Two gram panchayats give consent to Great Nicobar infrastructure project
Hindustan Times, 08 Mar 2025.

Project

Total project costing ₹75,000 crore (US$9.4 b in 2022) was conceived by

NITI Aayog The NITI Aayog (; abbreviation for National Institution for Transforming India) serves as the apex public policy think tank of the Government of the Republic of India, and the nodal agency tasked with catalyzing economic development, and foste ...

and is being developed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDC). offering geostrategic importance for defence, logistics, commerce and industries, eco-tourism, coastal tourism, and

Coastal Regulation Zone Under the section 3 of Environment Protection Act, 1986 of India, Coastal Regulation Zone notification was issued in February 1991 for the first time, for regulation of activities in the coastal area by the Ministry of Environment and Forests ( ...

. The project, to be completed in phases over 30 year, includes: # Galathea Bay International Container Transhipment Terminal (Galathea Bay ICTT) on eastern side of Galathea Bay with total 16 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units unit of cargo) capacity, with phase-I capacity of 4 million TEUs.Bids for Andaman's Rs 41,000-crore mega port project open today.
Economic Times, 28 Jan 2023. # Great Nicobar International Airport (GNIA), a greenfield airport on immediate northeast side of Galathea Bay with peak hour capacity of 4,000 passengers. # Great Nicobar Gas and Solar Power Plant (Great Nicobar GSPP) on immediate northwest side of and Galathea Bay with 450-MVA capacity, spread over 16,610 hectares. # Two new greenfield coastal cities one on the southeast side of the Great Nicobar Island between Campbell Bay and Galathea Bay and another on southwest side of the Great Nicobar Island to the west of Galathea Bay. Other project components also include: # Cruise Ship TerminalGreat Nicobar: Tribal lands don’t show up on maps as Union govt pushes mega project
thenewsminute.com, 4 Apr2025. # Luxury Tourism Resorts Hub. # Industrial Hub.Fears loom over India's 'Hong Kong' project on a remote island
MSN, accsessed 8 Apr 2025.

Existing infrastructure

INS Baaz INS Baaz is an Indian naval air station under the joint-services Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) of the Indian Armed Forces. It is located near Campbell Bay, on Great Nicobar island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is the southernmost a ...

naval base with existing airstrip at Campbell Bay, under the

Andaman and Nicobar Command The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is a integrated tri-services command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India. It was created in 2001 to safeguard India's strategic in ...

, connects island with

Car Nicobar Car Nicobar ( in Car language) is the northernmost of the Nicobar Islands. It is also one of three local administrative divisions of the Indian district of Nicobar, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Annual ra ...

and

Port Blair Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...

Air bases.

Environmental impact

After weighing the following pros and cons, benefits, risk and mitigation strategies, the project was granted the environmental clearance by the

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Government of India, Indian government Ministry (government department), ministry. The ministry Portfolio (government), portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union ...

(MoEFCC)'s Expert Appraisal Committee in November 2022.

Flora

Due to this project, island will lose 12 to 20 hectares of mangrove cover, which the government will be compensating by afforestation in Haryana's Aravallis as per rules which allow for such remote

compensatory afforestation Compensatory Afforestation (CA) is defined as the process of afforestation, and associated regeneration activities are done to compensate for destroyed forest land that has been diverted to non-forest activities. In this context, non-forest acti ...

Corals

To mitigate the risk of loss of corals, the corals will be translocated in the reefs around the island.

Fauna

The Great Nicobar project, located within 10 km radius ecologically sensitive zone near Galthea Bay, threatens rare fauna such as Leatherback sea turtle,

salt water crocodile The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats, brackish wetlands and freshwater rivers from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaland to northern Australia and Micronesia. It h ...

, Nicobar macaque. While the MoEFCC proposed 3 conservation sites on

Little Nicobar Little Nicobar ( Nicobarese: ''Ong'') is one of the Nicobar Islands, India. History The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami caused extensive damage to this island. Geography Little Nicobar Island's area is . There are a few smaller islands ...

, Menchal Island and Meroe Island to mitigate risks, the Tribal Council of Campbell Bay opposes these sanctuaries, citing a lack of consultation and their long-standing coexistence with the island's wildlife.

Human

The Great Nicobar Island development project, including

planned cities A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

in the region with additional population of over 350,000, raises concerns with

Ministry of Tribal Affairs The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MOTA) is an Indian Government ministry charged with overall development of Scheduled Tribe communities of India by providing them education, scholarships, grants to create more health infrastructure in tribal ...

about its impact on the 1,761-member indigenous

Shompen The Shompen or Shom Pen are the Indigenous people of the interior of Great Nicobar Island, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Shompen are designated as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group within the list o ...

and Nicobarese tribes. Despite residing mainly outside the project area, which affects 10% of their reserve, the project's projected population increase poses a significant threat. Experts, including genocide specialists and

Survival International Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969, a London based charity that campaigns for the collective rights of Indigenous, tribal and uncontacted peoples. The organisation's campaigns generally focus on tribal people ...

, warn of potential cultural destruction and disease vulnerability, potentially leading to extinction, citing the Shompen's legal rights under the Forest Rights Act and their lack of immunity to outside diseases.

Present status

* 2023 Jan: Bids submitted by vendors for the ₹41,000-crore (US$8 b) mega international container transhipment port (ICTP) at Galathea Bay were opened, phase-1 port with 4 million TEUs will be completed by 2028. Ten Companies which filled ''Expression of Interest'' are

Adani Ports & SEZ Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) is an Indian multinational port operator and logistics company, part of Adani Group. APSEZ is India's largest private port operator with a network of 12 ports and terminals, including Indi ...

Container Corporation of India A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

Essar Ports Essar Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, founded by Shashi Ruia and Ravi Ruia in 1969. The company, known as Essar Global Fund Limited (EGFL), owns a variety of assets in the core sectors of energy (oil refining, oil and ...

JSW Infrastructure JSW Group is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate, based in Mumbai. It is led by Sajjan Jindal and founded by Om Prakash Jindal. The group's diverse businesses include steel, energy, infrastruc ...

, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures, Navayuga Engineering, PDP International,

Rail Vikas Nigam Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is an Indian central Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) which works as the construction arm of the Ministry of Railways for project implementation and transportation infrastructure development. It was incorporated ...

, Royal Boskalis Westminster N. V., Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, and Vishwa Samudra Holdings., * 2025 Apr: NTPC invited bid for a 5 MW solar power project with battery energy storage capacity of up to 4 to 12 MWh. 7 deep-sea mining blocks off the coast of the Great Nicobar Island were awarded, and Offshore Areas Mineral Trust as a non-profit autonomous body has been established which will use the funds received for research and expenditure related to mitigate any adverse impact caused to the ecology in the offshore area due to mining operations.Centre approves 7 deep-sea mining blocks off Great Nicobar Island
Scroll, 4 Apr 2025. 2 of the total 3 gram panchayat in the project area, Laxminagar and Govindnagar, have also granted permission to the project.

References

{{coord missing, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Nicobar Islands Tourism in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Ports and harbours of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands