Why In News?
The Union Government has moved the Supreme Court to stay ongoing legal proceedings before the Calcutta High Court regarding the Great Nicobar Island (GNI) Project.
What Is The Great Nicobar Project?
Mega Integrated Development Plan: Conceived by NITI Aayog and executed through the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO) to transform Great Nicobar into an international transshipment and strategic economic hub.
Four Interlinked Infrastructure Components:
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International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT): Deep-draft transshipment port at Galathea Bay designed to handle mega-container vessels.
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Greenfield International Airport: Dual-use military and civilian airport capable of handling long-range commercial and naval surveillance aircraft.
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Gas and Solar-Based Power Plant: A 450 MVA integrated power plant to supply uninterrupted electricity to the complex.
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Greenfield Smart City and Township: A modern urban township, commercial maritime zone, and tourism complex spread over 130 square kilometers.
Geographical Scope: Involves the diversion of 130.75 square kilometers (13,075 hectares) of land, including extensive swathes of pristine tropical rainforest.
Strategic Significance of Great Nicobar
Maritime Chokepoint: Great Nicobar occupies an unmatched geopolitical position at the southern tip of the Bay of Bengal, lying within 40 nautical miles of the Malacca Strait—one of the world's busiest maritime transit corridors for global petroleum and trade.
Power Projection & Indo-Pacific Security: Enables the Indian Navy to maintain round-the-clock maritime domain awareness, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) patrols, and counter the expanding presence of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the eastern Indian Ocean.
UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Reserve: Designated as the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve in 2013, home to rare tropical wet evergreen forests, extensive coral reefs, and complex mangrove estuaries.
High Endemism: Harbors critical populations of endemic flora and fauna found nowhere else on Earth, operating as a biological speciation hotspot.