Nicobar Project’s Strategic and Ecological Consequences, A Delicate Balance
The National Green Tribunal Monday cleared the way for the government’s ₹81,000 crore Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project, noting its “strategic importance” and observing that there were “adequate safeguards” in the project’s environmental clearance.
The tribunal’s order is significant as it will likely act as a reference point for future projects of strategic importance planned in ecologically sensitive areas. It also casts a fresh spotlight on the 166-sq km project to create a strategic and economic hub that will require the diversion of 130 sq km of forest land and the felling of almost a million trees.
The Great Nicobar Project
Great Nicobar island covers 910 sq km and is home to India’s southernmost location, Indira Point. The government’s main goal on the island is to create an economic and defence hub. This goal rests on four pillars: an integrated township with a wide range of facilities, a transshipment port, a civil and military airport, and a 450-megawatt open-cycle gas and solar power-based plant.
Initially driven by NITI Aayog, the project’s implementing agency is now the Andaman and Nicobar Island Integrated Development Corridor Ltd. Of the cumulative area earmarked for the project, around 149 sq km will be used for the integrated township, 8.45 sq km for the new airport, 7.66 sq km for the port and 0.39 sq km for the power plant.
The integrated township will include residential, commercial, tourist, logistics and defence facilities. The scale is immense—a new city rising on an island that has remained largely untouched by modern development.
The transshipment port will be located on the southern tip of Great Nicobar at Galathea Bay, an ecologically important area that is home to the nesting sites of Leatherback turtles, and where the Galathea River drains into the sea. The dual-use international airport is proposed to the east of the port. It will be the second one on the island after the Navy’s airstrip at INS Baaz Naval Air Station. The airport will require the acquisition of 4.2 sq km of land and affect 379 families, largely those who have settled on the island from the mainland.
Land reclamation has also been proposed for the port and airport. An estimated 2.98 sq km of land will be reclaimed for the port and 1.94 sq km for the airport. It is also estimated that 33.35 million cubic metres of material will be required for this purpose. Cement, rocks, sand, and steel will be used to support the construction sites, according to the 2021 pre-feasibility report prepared by AECOM India Pvt Ltd for NITI Aayog.
Strategic Interests
The Union government’s push for the project appears to be driven by three key factors: geopolitics, maritime trade, and geographic advantage.
Great Nicobar island is India’s closest territory to the Malacca Strait, a narrow maritime choke point linking the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. This trade route sees 94,000 ships pass through it annually, according to the World Economic Forum. It accounts for an estimated 30% of all traded goods globally and a third of the world’s maritime oil trade.
Transshipment ports are equipped to transfer cargo containers from larger to smaller vessels before they head to their eventual destination. India has only one operational transshipment port at Vizhinjam in Kerala, on the west coast. The port at Galathea Bay will thus contest for a share of the maritime trade pie with Sri Lanka’s Colombo and Hambantota ports, Malaysia’s Port Klang, and the Port of Singapore.
The government has projected that the Nicobar port can handle approximately 14.2 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) of cargo annually—meaning it can handle 14 million 20-foot containers every year. This would make it a major player in regional transshipment.
Apart from the port, India has also stepped up defence infrastructure activity in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, revamping airfields, jetties, storage facilities, and surveillance infrastructure. A tri-service Andaman and Nicobar Command has been operational at Port Blair since 2001. The INS Baaz Naval Air Station is also located at Campbell Bay, north of the proposed township. The project plans show that defence-related infrastructure will be part of the first of three construction phases.
Environmental Impact
Great Nicobar is an ecologically rich, remote, and sparsely populated island. The mega project will severely affect forests, wildlife, and indigenous communities.
To begin with, the infrastructure construction will lead to the felling of over a million trees through the diversion of 130 sq km of pristine forest. The Nicobar group of islands are part of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, one of the most biologically rich regions on Earth.
The entire Great Nicobar Island, excluding its revenue land, is part of the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve. The island is home to littoral or coastal wetland forests, and mixed evergreen and heathland vegetation areas. The Galathea Bay wildlife sanctuary and a megapode wildlife sanctuary were identified for the project. The Nicobar megapode is a ground-dwelling bird found only on the Nicobar Islands, and the project area will affect its nesting mounds.
The environmental clearance documents themselves acknowledge the impact of the port on leatherback turtle nesting sites in Galathea Bay. It has said that no activity shall be undertaken on the island’s western parts as they are likely to be used by the turtles as alternative sites. This is a tacit admission that the primary nesting sites will be disturbed.
To mitigate the deforestation of wild habitats, the Andaman and Nicobar administration was asked to notify a leatherback turtle sanctuary on Little Nicobar Island, a megapode sanctuary on the Andaman, and a coral sanctuary covering the southern Meeso Island. Whether these compensatory measures can truly offset the loss of primary habitat is an open question.
The project will also affect the forests of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are home to several endangered species such as the Nicobar pigeon, the Nicobar falconet, and the Nicobar serpent eagle.
The Human Cost
All these projects and activities will lead to a massive surge in the island’s population—from around 8,500 (according to the 2011 census) to 6.5 lakh by 2050. This represents a 76-fold increase, transforming the island’s social fabric completely.
A long-pending Nicobarese demand—to be resettled in their pre-tsunami villages—could also remain unfulfilled. In January, the tribal council of Great Nicobar alleged that the island administration was pressuring them to surrender claims to these villages. In the past, the tribal council has also revoked its no-objection certificate for the denotification of a tribal reserve, citing concealment of information on the project’s scope and impact.
The Nicobarese are not recent migrants; they are indigenous communities with centuries of history on these islands. Their relationship to the land is not just economic but cultural and spiritual. The project threatens to sever that relationship permanently.
The NGT’s Calculus
The NGT’s order effectively accepts the government’s argument that strategic considerations justify the environmental costs. The tribunal noted that there were “adequate safeguards” in place, though conservationists contest this assessment.
The order will likely serve as a precedent for future projects in ecologically sensitive areas. If strategic importance can override environmental concerns in this case, why not in others? The precedent is troubling for those who believe that ecological protection should have a non-negotiable floor.
Conclusion: A Test of Values
The Great Nicobar project is a test of India’s values. It asks whether strategic and economic imperatives can coexist with ecological preservation and respect for indigenous rights. The government says yes, pointing to safeguards and mitigation measures. Conservationists say no, pointing to irreversible losses.
The truth is that both sides have valid points. The strategic logic is real; India’s interests in the Indian Ocean are genuine. The ecological concerns are equally real; the Nicobar Islands are irreplaceable. The question is whether the project as currently designed strikes the right balance.
The NGT has given its answer. History will render its own judgment.
Q&A: Unpacking the Great Nicobar Project
Q1: What are the four pillars of the Great Nicobar project?
The project rests on four pillars: an integrated township with residential, commercial, tourist, logistics, and defence facilities; a transshipment port at Galathea Bay; a dual-use civil and military airport; and a 450-megawatt open-cycle gas and solar power plant. Of the total 166 sq km earmarked, 149 sq km is for the township, 8.45 sq km for the airport, 7.66 sq km for the port, and 0.39 sq km for the power plant.
Q2: What are the strategic drivers behind the project?
Three key factors drive the project: geopolitics, maritime trade, and geographic advantage. Great Nicobar is India’s closest territory to the Malacca Strait, through which 94,000 ships pass annually, carrying 30% of global traded goods and a third of maritime oil trade. The transshipment port will compete with Colombo, Hambantota, Port Klang, and Singapore. Defence infrastructure is also being significantly expanded.
Q3: What are the main environmental concerns?
The project requires diverting 130 sq km of pristine forest and felling nearly a million trees in the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot. It will affect the Galathea Bay wildlife sanctuary and megapode sanctuary, impacting leatherback turtle nesting sites and the Nicobar megapode, a ground-dwelling bird found only on these islands. The government has proposed compensatory sanctuaries but conservationists question whether these can offset primary habitat loss.
Q4: How will the project affect indigenous communities?
The Nicobar Islands are home to indigenous Nicobarese communities with centuries of history on the islands. The project will cause a population surge from 8,500 to 6.5 lakh by 2050, a 76-fold increase. The tribal council has alleged pressure to surrender claims to pre-tsunami villages and has revoked its no-objection certificate, citing concealment of information about the project’s scope and impact.
Q5: What precedent does the NGT’s order set?
The NGT’s order accepts that strategic considerations can justify significant environmental costs when “adequate safeguards” are in place. This will likely serve as a reference point for future projects in ecologically sensitive areas. The precedent raises fundamental questions about whether strategic importance should override environmental concerns, and whether compensatory measures can truly offset irreversible ecological losses.
