NGT Clears Great Nicobar Mega Project

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on February 16 cleared the ₹81,000-crore Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project, citing its “strategic importance” and noting that adequate safeguards were incorporated in the environmental clearance.

Project Overview

Great Nicobar Island spans 910 sq km and hosts India’s southernmost point, Indira Point.
The government envisions transforming the island into a major economic and defence hub built on four pillars:

• An integrated township with defence facilities
• A transshipment port
• A dual-use civil and military airport
• A 450-MVA gas- and solar-based power plant

Initially conceptualised by NITI Aayog, the project is now being implemented by Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation Limited (ANIIDCO).

Strategic Significance

Great Nicobar is India’s closest territory to the Strait of Malacca, a critical maritime chokepoint linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans. According to the World Economic Forum, around 94,000 ships transit this route annually, accounting for nearly 30% of global trade and about one-third of global maritime oil shipments.

The proposed transshipment port at Galathea Bay is expected to compete with major regional ports such as Port of Singapore, Port Klang, and Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo and Port of Hambantota.

Environmental and Ecological Concerns

Great Nicobar is part of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot and, except for revenue land, falls within the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve.
The project required denotification of the Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and a megapode wildlife sanctuary.

Galathea Bay is a key nesting site for the endangered leatherback turtle. The environmental clearance itself acknowledges potential impacts on turtle nesting habitats. The project is also expected to affect the nesting mounds of the Nicobar megapode, a ground-dwelling bird endemic to the Nicobar Islands.

Impact on Indigenous Communities

Concerns have also been raised about the project’s impact on the indigenous Shompen and Nicobarese communities, whose tribal reserves and forest areas fall within the development zone.

Source: IE