Andaman LG, MoEFCC meet to discuss Great Nicobar Project
Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lt Governor Admiral DK Joshi (Retd) held a meeting with Chandra Prakash Goyal, chairman of the high-level committee of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), to review the sustainable development of Great Nicobar Islands, an official said on Saturday.
Goyal and Dr Satya Prakash Yadav, permanent member of the committee, called on the Lt Governor on Friday and held detailed discussions on conservation and regulatory framework under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notifications, diversion of island forest cover, compensatory afforestation and non-displacement of tribal communities at Great Nicobar Islands, the official said.
In the meeting, it was discussed that during the construction and operational phases of mega strategic and infrastructure projects, mitigation measures must be implemented to eliminate environmental damage protection of wildlife and socio-cultural ecosystems in the Great Nicobar Islands.
During the meeting, the Lt Governor highlighted that the Great Nicobar Island project is set to position the Islands as a major maritime and logistics hub in the Indo-Pacific region.
In the first phase, the terminal is expected to handle around six million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore, with completion targeted within three years of commencement. In the final phase, capacity could scale up to 21 million TEUs, making it one of the largest container ports not only in India but potentially across the Indo-Pacific, another official present at the meeting said.
Highlighting the strategic location of Great Nicobar near the Malacca Strait, he noted that the port could emerge as a dominant transhipment hub in global shipping routes. The project will be executed under the public-private partnership (PPP) model using the landlord framework, wherein the Government will primarily invest in core infrastructure and connectivity, while private players will bring in the bulk of investments.
Alongside the port, a greenfield international airport is also planned, with at least one runway expected to be operational within three years.
Additionally, the existing runway at INS Baaz (Indian Naval Air Station in Campbell Bay) is being extended to nearly three kilometres to accommodate large aircraft.
