Why India is pouring billions into a remote island
Why India is pouring billions into a remote island
#opinion
The strategic importance of Greater Nicobar, the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, which dominates the Malacca Strait—a critical maritime chokepoint through which 60% of global trade passes—has once again come into focus amid the Iran War and turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz.
Against such a backdrop, the Indian government earlier this month submitted a draft master plan for the development of the Greater Nicobar Islands.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI), governed as a single union territory by the central government of India, cover an area of 8,249 sq km. The entire island chain consists of 836 islands, including islets and rocky outcrops, of which about 30 are permanently inhabited.
Located 1,300 km southeast of the Indian mainland, these territories are India’s premier maritime and air outpost, offering immense strategic leverage in the Indian Ocean. They act as a crucial bridge between South and Southeast Asia and as a strategic gateway for India into the Malacca Strait, a vital shipping route connecting the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.
The Nicobar Islands are instrumental to India in monitoring shipping lanes and extending its military reach. They serve as a key bulwark of India’s Act East Policy against China’s growing influence in the region. The islands act as a permanent air and naval base, facilitating power projection and rapid military deployment in the eastern and northern Indian Ocean. They support comprehensive maritime domain awareness and also provide a first line of defence against both traditional and non-conventional threats such as illegal fishing, drug trafficking, and piracy.
The islands provide 300,000 sq km of additional Exclusive Economic Zone, rich with underwater mineral and hydrocarbon resources. Sustainable power projects are designed to enhance both economic growth and strategic defence capability.
The mega plan envisages a $9.9 billion mega-infrastructure project with a proposed focus on tourism as the “primary economic driver” of growth. It is being envisioned as a “seaside destination to relax, enjoy theme parks, and wellness tourism in a pristine, unspoilt and protected environment.”
A 450 MVA gas/solar power plant and a large township will support the population. There will be conference and convention centres. The already unfolding project includes an international container transhipment port, an airport, power plants, and a township. The plan aims to utilise the island’s strategic location next to the crucial and busy sea lane, Malacca Strait.
Maritime and port development will enhance connectivity by adding new jetties and expanding port facilities to accommodate large cargo vessels. It will boost tourism, entertainment, and processing clusters along the eastern coast of the island, from Galathea Bay in the south to Campbell Bay in the north. These projects aim to reduce dependence on foreign ports (like Singapore or Colombo) for container handling.
The project is expected to span 166 sq km. Of this, around 40% has been set aside as “urbanisable,” with the rest allocated to “special projects” including an airport, container port, freight and passenger terminals, defence area, and a green development area where no tree-felling will be allowed. About 129 sq km of land is expected to be diverted from forest areas.
The project also aims to attract “population to settle here” through both permanent and temporary jobs that will be created. The plan has been drafted for a projected population of 336,000 by 2055. Of this, the local Nicobarese population is expected to grow to about 11,500 from its current 7,500. By that time, the annual inflow of tourists to the island is expected to exceed a million. The development will be in phases and finish by 2047 in line with the targets of the Narendra Modi-led government’s vision of “Viksit Bharat” (Developed India).
The ANI basin is a highly promising, under-explored frontier. India’s Directorate General of Hydrocarbons estimates hydrocarbon potential at 371 MMTOE (million metric tons of oil equivalent).
Deep-water exploration last year, particularly in the Sri Vijayapuram-2 well, has confirmed significant natural gas deposits (87% methane). This region is considered a major new source that could significantly boost India’s energy security and reduce reliance on imports. The basin, extending over 47,000 sq km, is part of a complex island arc system formed by the convergence of the Indian and Burmese plates.
In 2025, Oil India conducted a three-well drilling campaign that proved commercial gas potential in the Andaman shallow/deep-water, including at a depth of 295 metres.
To accelerate exploration and identification of crude oil and hydrocarbon reserves in the ANI basin, the Indian government has opened previously restricted areas and is encouraging investment through the Open Acreage Licensing Programme. The discovery is crucial to India’s energy transition towards cleaner fuels (methane over coal) and could significantly enhance India’s offshore energy assets.
The strategic focus
The Great Nicobar project aligns with India’s Act East Policy, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. It is a strategic, proactive, and dynamic shift from the 1991 Look East Policy, focusing on strengthening economic, cultural, and strategic ties with Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific. The policy prioritises regional stability and the development of India’s northeastern states bordering China, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
While focusing on ASEAN nations, it extends cooperation to Japan, South Korea and the wider Indo-Pacific to counteract regional challenges. A major focus is on integrating India’s northeastern states into the broader regional trade and infrastructure framework, serving as a gateway to Southeast Asia. Key projects in this domain include road and rail links, as well as maritime cooperation with Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
New Delhi’s transition to “Act East” emphasises rapid implementation, with a focus on maritime security and a rules-based order, particularly in partnership with Indo-Pacific powers. The policy has facilitated deeper cooperation, including the sale of BrahMos missiles to the Philippines and maritime exercises.
The Nicobar Islands, therefore, hold critical strategic importance for India, acting as a “geostrategic pivot” in the Indian Ocean and a vital maritime watchdog. Indira Point, adjacent to the Galathea Bay, India’s southernmost point, is just 145 km north of Indonesia’s northernmost Rondo Island and 160 km from the Western Entrance of the Malacca Strait.
The 800-km strait is crucial to global supply chains, but its narrowest point, less than three kilometres wide, makes it a piracy and maritime security risk, often referred to as the “Malacca Dilemma” by nations reliant on it.
The Nicobar Islands secure trade routes, enable power projection, and facilitate regional cooperation against security threats, effectively acting as India’s first line of defence against Eastern maritime threats. The islands enable the Indian Navy to monitor the crucial maritime route.
Expanding military assets
As the home to India’s only joint services Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), the islands enable enhanced, integrated surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, and rapid deployment capabilities. ANI control the “arc of power” in the Bay of Bengal, anchored by the ANC. Key assets include major naval and air bases, as well as missile batteries designed to monitor maritime traffic. INS Utkrosh (Port Blair) is the primary air station for aerial operations. INS Kohassa (Diglipur) is the northern surveillance base. INS Baaz (Campbell Bay) is the southernmost air station overlooking the Malacca Strait. INS Jarawa (Port Blair) houses the floating dock FDN-1. INS Kardip is a strategic naval facility in the Nicobar group.
All these are being upgraded with deeper berths, lengthened airstrips, modernisation, and installation of surveillance facilities at Campbell Bay, Kamorta, and Hut Bay. The new Great Nicobar development plan will support the operations of advanced surveillance aircraft and combat jets. It will allow greater time on station for surveillance aircraft (P-8I and MQ-9) and shorter reaction time for fighter jets of the Rafale and Su-30 MKI classes. Indian Navy submarines can operate from the specialised infrastructure at Port Blair.
The ANC oversees army infantry brigades with armoured columns, Navy missile corvettes, amphibious warships, and patrol vehicles. Rutland Island is frequently used for joint amphibious assault exercises.
The existing military areas of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force are being expanded to accommodate more permanent assets. The runways at Diglipur and at Air Force Station Car Nicobar are being lengthened, and airfield assets, including hardened shelters, will allow sustained operations. The National Green Tribunal has cleared the mega-infrastructure project, citing it as being of “strategic importance”.
The way ahead for mega plan
The Great Nicobar project faced scrutiny due to significant environmental impact, large-scale forest land diversion, and potential effects on local biodiversity and tribal communities. But the strong leadership of Modi and a clear development strategy have enabled progress.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation is leading these efforts, focusing on public-private partnerships to develop international-standard tourist resorts and eco-tourism facilities. The focus remains on accelerating growth while managing the region’s ecological sensitivities.
The military airstrips in the ANC, including Car Nicobar, Campbell Bay, and Diglipur, have been designated for dual‑use activation to expand civilian air services across the archipelago, thus reflecting a model of symbiotic civil‑military growth. A phased transformation of the ANC into a strategic outpost would strengthen India’s image as a preferred security partner among Indian Ocean littorals. A Su-30 MKI with single air refuelling will be able to reach the South China Sea when operating from Car Nicobar. Land-based BrahMos missiles will also be positioned.
New Delhi’s engagement with its neighbours through the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, alongside the provision of operational turnaround facilities to friendly navies and the undertaking of coordinated patrols, can further promote regional order and cooperation.
India’s development of the ANI has progressively emerged as a pillar of its maritime diplomacy in the eastern Indian Ocean Region. Surveillance of extra-regional warships, deep-sea fishing fleets, “dark shipping”, illegal activities, and research vessels along key chokepoints is essential, and the ANI offer distinct advantages in facilitating this task. Similarly, the emerging hydrocarbon potential has to be exploited and secured.
ANI could become a multifunctional node for container trade, cold‑chain exports, maritime services, and digital commerce, creating steady demand for feeder services, warehousing, and skilled local employment, while deepening India’s integration with the Bay of Bengal littorals and ASEAN supply chains.
The completion of the Chennai-ANI submarine cable, a 2,300 km high-speed fibre-optic link, has laid a strong foundation for sustained digital connectivity and future growth.
With the increasing Chinese Navy presence in the Indian Ocean Region, India requires an enhanced and sustained naval and air presence, and stringent access monitoring at the Malacca Strait, through the ANI, to enable timely responses to potential military build-ups. The new infrastructure will allow it to integrate the islands more deeply into the national security architecture and reinforce the country’s maritime posture in the Indo-Pacific.
A permanent fighter squadron must be positioned at Great Nicobar as early as possible. Lessons from recent wars also indicate the need to establish robust air defences on the major islands, including SAMs and other systems. India must position larger numbers of air and ground-launched cruise missiles.
The ANI are the most strategically located islands in the world. With focused development and military empowerment, these islands could emerge as India’s strategic fulcrum against misadventures by India’s northern neighbour. Major infrastructure development by the ANI will tilt the strategic balance further in India’s favour.
Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Rtd) is an Indian Air Force veteran, fighter test pilot and former Director-General of the Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi.
-Khmer Times-
