Great Nicobar Project
Great Nicobar Project At Crossroads Of Strategy And Ecology
In August 2025, the Environment Ministry told a parliamentary panel that the High Powered Committee set up on tribunal directions had submitted its review of the Great Nicobar development, while keeping parts confidential due to strategic considerations. Earlier, a Rajya Sabha reply on 19 August 2025 recorded that the proposed transshipment port had been notified as a Major Port under central law. These developments indicate that New Delhi is intent on proceeding, yet accepts that scrutiny will be intense and ongoing.
Here is what the project comprises. The centrepiece is an international container transshipment port at Galathea Bay with phase wise capacity ramping up from a multi-million TEU terminal to a long-term hub. Supporting projects include a greenfield dual-use airport, a 450 MVA gas plus solar power plant, and a compact township. According to the Environment Ministry’s 2024 and 2025 replies, three monitoring committees are in place to oversee pollution control, biodiversity management, and welfare issues for the Shompen and Nicobarese. The Andaman and Nicobar administration and ANIIDCO are listed as key implementing actors for different components.
The key issue is alignment with coastal and environmental rules on an island that also recognized as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. According to UNESCO’s listing, Great Nicobar harbours tropical wet evergreen forests with high endemism. Zoological and Wildlife Institute records identifies Galathea Bay and nearby beaches as crucial leatherback nesting sites. The National Green Tribunal’s 2023 order required a revisit of the environmental clearance on specific gaps, including activities within CRZ 1A and coral translocation. That is why current hearings focus on whether port and reclamation footprints stay clear of no-go ecological zones and whether mitigation plans are credible.
Current Situation
The policy arc began with a NITI Aayog-conceived holistic plan and a draft environmental impact assessment placed in late 2021. A public hearing in Campbell Bay was held on 27 January 2022. The Expert Appraisal Committee recommended clearance in late August 2022. The Environment Ministry issued environmental and CRZ clearance on 11 November 2022 with specific conditions, while Stage I forest clearance for 130.75 square kilometres was granted on 27 October 2022. The government has repeatedly stated that over half of the diversion area is reserved for green and open spaces and that tree felling estimates are below one million.
On 3 April 2023, the National Green Tribunal’s Eastern Zone bench upheld the forest clearance but constituted a High Powered Committee headed by the Environment Secretary to revisit the environmental nod and address specified deficiencies. The ministry subsequently constituted three monitoring committees and sanctioned funds for conservation and welfare plans. Minutes show these committees began meeting through 2023 and 2024. In 2024, the Shipping Ministry invited interest for the port and moved to form a special purpose vehicle under the landlord model for basic infrastructure, with private operators to run cargo handling on a concession.
In August 2024, the ministry’s reply in the Rajya Sabha described the special conditions linked to biodiversity and community welfare. In August 2025, the ministry submitted the High Powered Committee’s report to the tribunal, noting that certain parts relate to national security and remain confidential. Independent submissions before the tribunal in late August and mid-September 2025 urged that activities be kept out of ICRZ 1A islands zones and that turtle nesting and coral protection be treated as hard constraints. A separate Rajya Sabha reply on 19 August 2025 recorded the notification of the Great Nicobar port as a Major Port, formalising its regulatory status even as litigation continues.
Government and Official Positions
Supporting Arguments
The Ministry of Ports says India loses logistics efficiency when Indian containers are transshipped via Colombo, Singapore, Port Klang, and others. A May 2025 estimate cited around three million TEUs of India-linked cargo transshipped outside each year, with Colombo alone handling a significant share of the shipment. A deep-draft hub near the Malacca Strait would cut time and cost, anchor mainline calls, and strengthen resilience for eastern and northeastern gateways.
The Environment Ministry’s 2024 and 2025 replies emphasis that the environmental clearance carries 40 plus specific conditions, including three monitoring committees, conservation plans with national institutes, and ring-fenced budgets. The government adds that more than half of the diversion area is reserved for green spaces and that tree felling estimates remain below 9.64 lakh due to layout refinements.
The tribunal order in April 2023 noted national security and economic development considerations for a strategic island chain that hosts naval aviation at Campbell Bay. According to official submissions, the site selection leverages naturally deep waters exceeding 20 metres, reducing dredging and enabling ultra-large container vessel calls.
Challenges or Criticisms of Position
Conservation groups point to the Island Coastal Regulation Zone 2019 rules that mark turtle nesting grounds, coral reefs, and other ecological features as CRZ 1A, where most development is prohibited. According to tribunal filings in August 2025, roughly seven square kilometres of the project footprint intersect CRZ 1A areas unless reconfigured.
Scientists and field researchers flag leatherback nesting at Galathea Bay and adjacent beaches as among the most important in the Nicobars. Official RTI responses from wildlife authorities have acknowledged the ecological importance of these nesting sites. Critics argue that light, noise, and breakwater-induced beach change could undermine nesting even if colonies are translocated.
The High Powered Committee’s report was submitted to the tribunal but has not been published in full due to strategic sensitivities. Petitioners argue that secrecy reduces public trust in compliance oversight on a project inside a biosphere reserve.
Economic and Industry Impact
Winners
Indian exporters and importers on the eastern seaboard: Potential time savings and lower feeder dependence if mainline services call at Great Nicobar. Government trade statistics show steady growth in container volumes and a policy push to capture transshipment domestically.
Shipping lines serving Asia–Africa and Asia–Europe routes: A deep-draft node near the Malacca chokepoint can offer operational flexibility, especially during congestion at regional hubs. Independent shipping studies in 2025 suggest a role for Great Nicobar as a distribution and bunkering waypoint for new marine fuels.
Losers
Competing regional hubs: Colombo and Singapore could lose a portion of India-linked transshipment if a reliable alternative emerges that offers comparable draft and turnaround times.
Local forest-dependent communities and island biodiversity: Even with green buffers, the diversion of 130.75 square kilometres of rainforest and attendant construction could fragment habitats and disrupt traditional access unless safeguards are enforced and rights processes are complete.
Policy and Research Analysis
Arguments Supporting Acceleration
Official year-end reviews underscore a national logistics mission to double port capacity and reduce supply chain costs. Analysts argue that a deep-draft hub on the eastern arc complements Vizhinjam on the west and diversifies risk away from single-hub dependence.
New research from transport and energy institutes in 2025 evaluates Great Nicobar’s potential as a green fuel bunkering node on east–west lanes. If India aims to lead on green shipping corridors, early infrastructure co-location at a strategic chokepoint could be a competitive edge.
Arguments Supporting Caution
Down to Earth’s reporting, tribunal submissions, and civil society dossiers highlight unsettled questions on CRZ 1A siting, the practicality and ecological efficacy of large-scale coral translocation, and light impacts on turtle nesting. They also question whether the social impact processes adequately consulted the Shompen and Nicobarese, given access restrictions and language barriers.
Geological and seismological literature, as well as official surveys, document significant subsidence near Indira Point and widespread impact from the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman event. Critics say design standards, evacuation planning, and cumulative impact assessment need fuller disclosure to meet disaster resilience norms.
Civil Society and Community Impact
Immediate Community Effects
Nicobarese representatives and advocates have flagged forest rights concerns, stating that diversion decisions preceded full settlement and consent processes. Letters cited by parliamentary and media reporting in 2024 and 2025 ask for clear evidence of compliance under the Forest Rights Act and under tribal protection regulations unique to the islands.
The Shompen, identified in the 2011 census at roughly two hundred plus individuals, are a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group with low immunity to communicable disease and limited contact with outsiders. Anthropological and health research emphasises the risk of cultural and epidemiological disruption if outward migration to work sites increases or if buffer norms are diluted.
Advocacy Responses
Environmental networks and data journalism platforms have compared tree felling estimates from government replies with independent extrapolations based on forest density. They call for a transparent, species-wise enumeration and for publishing mitigation plans prepared with institutions like WII, ZSI, BSI, and ICFRE.
Policy think tanks and maritime strategists argue for a “do no harm” redesign that shifts the most intrusive works away from CRZ 1A features, uses lighting regimes compatible with turtle nesting, and phases construction while biodiversity and welfare committee baselines are independently verified and publicly posted.
Regional and Comparative Context
Regional Variations
On India’s west coast, Vizhinjam in Kerala is positioning to capture transshipment tied to the Arabian Sea and Africa routes. On the east, Great Nicobar would target flows near Malacca and the Bay of Bengal. Sequencing and complementarity will decide whether India can capture both arcs without over-building.
International Comparisons
Singapore and Colombo have advantages in connectivity and services. India’s challenge is to match predictability and draft while pricing in ecological compliance on an island that also serves as a biosphere reserve.
Impact Assessment
Immediate Effects
Governance and Oversight: The environmental clearance’s three monitoring committees have convened and budgets have been sanctioned for biodiversity and welfare plans. According to meeting minutes, plans involve national institutes and island administration departments. Publication of minutes and field progress is a near-term test of transparency.
Land And Tree Works: A formal expression of interest for tree felling was issued in August 2024, signalling pre-construction mobilisation. Government replies stress that redesigned layouts aim to hold felling below 9.64 lakh trees and keep more than half the diversion area green. Independent analysts will track whether enumeration and felling match those claims.
Legal Process: The tribunal-mandated High Powered Committee review has been submitted. Petitioners are seeking disclosure and specific no-go protections for CRZ 1A zones. Parallel questions on forest rights compliance have been raised in parliament and in court.
Medium-term Implications
Logistics Outcomes: If phase one achieves reliable mainline calls and four million TEU capacity with deep natural draft, Indian exporters on the east could see lower dwell times and fewer feeder legs via foreign hubs. Benefits depend on integrated coastal shipping and customs readiness at the port.
Ecological Trajectory: Success of coral translocation and turtle friendly lighting regimes will be visible in two to three nesting seasons. Biodiversity baselines and third-party audits will be needed to validate whether mitigation is working or requires course correction.
Community Welfare: Delivery of promised welfare measures for Shompen and Nicobarese will be judged by health outcomes, protected movement corridors, and assured access to traditional resources. Settling forest rights and documenting consent or community agreements will shape legitimacy.
Key Indicators to Watch
Regulatory Milestones: Final tribunal orders on CRZ 1A alignment and any revisions to the environmental clearance. Disclosure of High Powered Committee recommendations consistent with security constraints.
Biodiversity Metrics: Nesting counts at Galathea, Casuarina, and Alexandria beaches across seasons. Coral survival rates after any translocation. Mortality and disturbance incidents logged by monitoring teams.
Project Delivery: Award of port and airport packages, dredging volumes versus plan, breakwater design choices, and whether designs avoid ecologically critical micro-sites. Publication of construction environmental management plans and weekly monitoring reports.
Social Safeguards: Documented settlement of forest rights claims, welfare committee minutes, independent audits of health and livelihoods programmes, and grievance redressal usage data.
Uncertainty Areas
Seismic Risk: While building codes can harden assets, the recurrence of large tsunamigenic events remains uncertain. Site-specific inundation models and evacuation infrastructure details have not been fully disclosed in the public domain.
Compensatory Afforestation Integrity: Plans to tag large tracts in the Aravalli region as protected for compensatory afforestation have encountered administrative hurdles and competing land uses. The ecological equivalence of distant arid-zone planting compared to tropical rainforest loss is contested and will remain a policy debate.
Institutional Capacity: Island administration bandwidth to monitor a multi-component megaproject alongside biosphere stewardship is finite. The degree of independence and frequency of monitoring committee inspections will influence outcomes.
Market Dynamics: The rise of Vizhinjam, capacity additions at Colombo and Singapore, and shipping alliance route changes may alter transshipment flows by the time Great Nicobar is ready.
Conclusion
The Great Nicobar project embodies a classic policy trade-off. According to the Ports Ministry’s own targets, India wants to capture more container transshipment domestically and deepen its maritime footprint near the world’s busiest sea lanes. The proposed port’s natural depth and location could unlock real logistics value if reliability and scale materialise. At the same time, official submissions acknowledge that the island is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and that leatherback turtle nesting beaches and coral habitats demand rigorous protection. The tribunal’s 2023 directive to revisit the environmental clearance has kept the compliance bar high, and rightly so.
For readers tracking the bottom line, three realities stand out. First, approvals exist but are conditional and under active review, with CRZ 1A siting and mitigation at the core of litigation. Second, economic gains depend not only on berths and breakwaters but also on end-to-end readiness, from customs to coastal shipping links. Third, social licence requires more than committees and plans. Forest rights settlement, transparent welfare delivery, and genuine co-design with island communities will decide acceptance.
The most likely scenario, if current patterns continue, is phased implementation with design refinements to stay clear of no-go ecological features and a slower buildout tied to tribunal-mandated disclosures. The decisive signals to watch are tribunal orders on CRZ alignment, publication of monitoring outputs, award of construction packages, and leatherback nesting data through successive seasons. A strategically sited port can coexist with a living biosphere only if compliance is treated as a core operating parameter rather than a peripheral cost.