India’s Great Nicobar mega project has received major approvals, pushing the ambitious development plan forward on Great Nicobar Island. The project aims to build a transshipment port, international airport, power infrastructure, and urban facilities to boost connectivity and strategic presence in the Bay of Bengal. Some final environmental and regulatory clearances are still pending before full-scale construction begins. Supporters say the project can unlock jobs, trade, logistics growth, and regional development, strengthening India’s maritime role. Critics and experts urge strong safeguards to protect rainforests, coral reefs, and indigenous communities, calling for careful phasing, mitigation plans, and sustainable development practices to balance growth with conservation.

Great Nicobar mega project moves ahead 🏝️
Major approvals done; final clearances pending before full construction.

#GreatNicobar #MegaProject #InfrastructureIndia #StrategicInfra #SustainableDevelopment #IslandDevelopment #IndiaGrowth #Environment 🌿🏗️

Great Nicobar project could wipe out species newly discovered on the island, experts fear New insects, birds and reptiles continue to be found on the island, some found nowhere else. The destruction of forests could mean their doom, scientists say.

Of the over 8,000 species of fauna that have been recorded on the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, around 1,100 are listed as endemic.

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As nearly 10 million trees will be cut for the #GreatNicobar project, experts fear it will have irreversible damage to island's fauna & flora.

On the Great Nicobar island, why the future is fearful The government has ambitious plans to build a shipping hub on the island. But are its native tribal communities on board? I travelled to the island to find out.

Almost 80% of the land needed for #GreatNicobar project is forest land. While government estimates that almost a million trees will be cut, a rainforest ecologist estimates the number could be as high as 10 million. scroll.in/article/1075...

Here's what Vaishnavi Rathore found out.

‘With The Great Nicobar Project, We Will Lose One Of India’s Most Pristine Landscapes’ A new volume of essays by scientists and researchers on the proposed Rs 92,000-crore infrastructure project in the Great Nicobar Island, which is 95% tropical rainforest, investigates the perilous imp...

Two new species, a bird & a snake, were discovered in the Andaman & Nicobar islands just in Nov 2025. The 92,000-cr #GreatNicobar project endangers “unknown unknowns”, Pankaj Sekhsaria, editor of new book on the project, tells Kavitha Iyer

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‘With The Great Nicobar Project, We Will Lose One Of India’s Most Pristine Landscapes’ A new volume of essays by scientists and researchers on the proposed Rs 92,000-crore infrastructure project in the Great Nicobar Island, which is 95% tropical rainforest, investigates the perilous imp...

Two new species, a bird & a snake, were discovered in the Andaman & Nicobar islands just in Nov 2025. The 92,000-cr #GreatNicobar project endangers “unknown unknowns”, Pankaj Sekhsaria, editor of new book on the project, tells Kavitha Iyer

article-14.com/post/-with-t...

‘With The Great Nicobar Project, We Will Lose One Of India’s Most Pristine Landscapes’ A new volume of essays by scientists and researchers on the proposed Rs 92,000-crore infrastructure project in the Great Nicobar Island, which is 95% tropical rainforest, investigates the perilous imp...

“The #GreatNicobar project’s cost escalations are phenomenal—Rs 72,000 cr to Rs 92,000 cr in 4 years.”

Pankaj Sekhsaria, editor of new volume on impending socio-ecological losses, to Kavitha Iyer

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#GreatNicobar is being drummed up as a deep draft and a strategically located port that could outpace its competitors. But this vision is fraught with logistical and economic contradictions that challenge its feasibility.

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CP Rajendran writes

Via The India Forum

#Tuesday Recommendation!
We are reading the brilliant and hard-hitting essays about the #GreatNicobar Project in Island on Edge (ed. by Pankaj Sekhsaria)

Get your copy of this important and timely book from your nearest bookstore or online!

How Scientists Were Coerced To Toe The Govt Line & Clear The Path To Destroy Great Nicobar’s Rainforest India’s top wildlife and biodiversity institutes tasked with assessing the environmental impact of a Rs 81,000-crore project on the Great Nicobar Island worked under intense pressure to deliver report...

A rapid #biodiversity assessment on the impact of the #GreatNicobar port project was conducted in just six days—missing peak turtle nesting season, and using drones ill-suited for the marine terrain. Rishika Pardikar reports

article-14.com/post/how-sci...

How Scientists Were Coerced To Toe The Govt Line & Clear The Path To Destroy Great Nicobar’s Rainforest India’s top wildlife and biodiversity institutes tasked with assessing the environmental impact of a Rs 81,000-crore project on the Great Nicobar Island worked under intense pressure to deliver report...

“Jobs on the line if they spoke out…”

Avadhoot Velankar, former researcher at institute that did impact study of #GreatNicobar project, said scientists were asked to provide favourable reports. Rishika pardikar reports

article-14.com/post/how-sci...

How Scientists Were Coerced To Toe The Govt Line & Clear The Path To Destroy Great Nicobar’s Rainforest India’s top wildlife and biodiversity institutes tasked with assessing the environmental impact of a Rs 81,000-crore project on the Great Nicobar Island worked under intense pressure to deliver report...

Scientists assessing the #GreatNicobar project’s impact were bound by non-disclosure clauses, rushed through deadlines, and pressured to produce favourable reports ahead of environmental clearances. Rishika Pardikar reports

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Replug | Almost 80% of the land needed for #GreatNicobar project is forest land. While government estimates that almost a million trees will be cut, a rainforest ecologist estimates the number could be as high as 10 million.

See what Vaishnavi Rathore found out while visiting the island.

Ramachandra Guha: Ignored by the ‘national’ media, a disaster is unfolding in Great Nicobar The government’s plan to build a shipping hub on the island is an assault on its natural and cultural integrity.

In social & ecological terms, the #GreatNicobar project will bring devastation in its wake.

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By sinking in so much money in building infrastructure, the Indian state will, in effect, be subsidising private corporate interests, writes Ramachandra Guha.

Asked to assess the impact of future projects on the #GreatNicobar island, Vishvajit Pandya never heard back after he submitted a report to the administration.

Read the anthropologist's conversation with Scroll's Vaishnavi Rathore on the #GreatNicobarProject.

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Original post on mastodon.social

The #GreatNicobar project is likely to have disastrous effects on #island #rainforest and #marine #biodiversity... Sad that this huge., destructive project is being rushed through.
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Why the Great Nicobar project could spell doom for the island’s unique fauna Experts say measures taken to mitigate harm to the animals represent only a “bare minimum”.

Research in the #GreatNicobar is recent, and wildlife biologists have noted that there are likely many more species endemic to these islands than currently known.

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Experts tell Vaishnavi Rathore how the impact of the project is costing them.

The proposed Rs 36,000-crore port in Great Nicobar may be economically unsound, experts warn They cite its distance from the Indian mainland and competition from other major ports nearby as major challenges to its success.

An #ecological and #social disaster this project will surely be, but looks like it's gonna be an #economic disaster, too! #GreatNicobar #shippingnews
#andamanandnicobarislands #indianocean […]

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Extreme #Heat is a global #Killer — and worse for our #Health than previously thought, new research shows : Misc

Remote Island of #GreatNicobar Threatened by Container Terminal : Sci Am

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