On Great Nicobar, a remote island located closer to Indonesia than mainland India, New Delhi is embarking on one of its biggest developments in decades.
The US$9 billion project is intended to transform the country’s southernmost tip into a major transport hub comprising a transhipment port, an international airport and associated logistical facilities.
Spread across 166 sq km (64 square miles), the project in India’s Andaman and Nicobar archipelago is slated for completion over three decades, with its first phase due by 2028.
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When completed, the hub in the Indian Ocean could strengthen India’s ability to monitor a critical maritime corridor and reduce its reliance on other transhipment hubs, giving New Delhi a stronger strategic foothold near the Strait of Malacca, according to analysts.
But critics warn that its development could come at a steep ecological cost.
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According to the Observer Research Foundation, about 60 per cent of India’s sea-based trade and a significant portion of its liquefied natural gas imports pass through the Strait of Malacca.