Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed speedy development of islands to tap their tourism potential. Initially, 26 out of India’s total 1,382 offshore islands will be considered for holistic development. This, even as the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved direct submarine cable link between the mainland in Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar to boost telecom service in the islands with a project outlay of Rs1,102.38 crore.
The 26 islands are located along different parts of India’s coastline, including some in the Andamans and lakshadweep.
At a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister here, a presentation was given on the vision for holistic development, which involved inputs from the NITI Aayog, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and other senior officials.
Prime Minister directed that developmental activities should be centered around basic infrastructure, tourism, agriculture (including organic agriculture and fisheries), and carbon-neutral energy generation.
Emphasising the strategic importance of India’s island wealth, the Prime Minister stressed the potential for tourism in these areas, the statement said. Urging the officials to speedily firm up plans for island development, Modi said solar energy should be used extensively in this exercise.
The estimated cost of the Optical Fibre Cable (OFC)project is Rs1,102.38 crore, including operational expenses for 5 years, and is likely to be completed by December 2018.
“The Union Cabinet has given its approval for provision of a direct communication link through a dedicated submarine Optical Fibre Cable between the mainland (Chennai) and Port Blair & five other islands viz little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Havelock, Kamorta and Great Nicobar,” said the oficial statement.
The telecom service in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands is dependent only on satellite connectivity and the bandwidth is limited to 1 GBPS only. “Satellite bandwidth is very costly and its availability is limited due to which future bandwidth requirement cannot be met solely through it. Hence, it is essential to have submarine OFC connectivity between the mainland India and Andaman & Nicobar islands, being the only option for catering to projected future bandwidth requirements,” the statement said.