One of New Delhi's largest and most important developments in decades is scheduled to take place on Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost tip of India, which is closer to the shores of Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia than to mainland India. The US $9 billion project has been approved by the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Andaman and Nicobar islands will become a vital nautical and economic center thanks to the Great Nicobar project.
The project, which covers 166 square kilometres, entails building a transhipment port, a civilian-military airport, a power plant, tourism facilities, and a township for the island's 350,000 residents. Its first phase is due by 2028, and it is expected to be finished over the course of three decades.

As a result, goods are routed through Singapore and Colombo, which causes India to lose a significant amount of money. When finished, the hub's 14.2 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) International Container Transhipment Terminal will give New Delhi a stronger strategic foothold close to the Strait of Malacca and lessen India's dependency on other transhipment hubs. It will also improve the nation's capacity to monitor a vital maritime corridor in the Indian Ocean.
China's "Malacca" Issue
The primary maritime chokepoint that connects the Pacific and Indian oceans via the South China Sea is the Strait of Malacca.According to recent data, over two-thirds of its maritime commerce and nearly 70–80% of its oil imports pass through the strait since it is the quickest and most economical sea route for energy and manufactured goods.
By creating routes through more southern Lombok and the Sunda Straits to avoid the Malacca Strait, Beijing has long attempted to reduce its heavy reliance on a single, vulnerable artery. However, these detours increase the cost and duration of vital imports into China, such as gas and crude, by 1,800 km and 3,000 km, respectively.

In order to avoid the Malacca Strait, which is still its primary energy route, China has also attempted to create alternate commerce and pipeline corridors over the past 20 years, such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and routes in Myanmar.
However, Malacca's significance as a possible chokepoint in the event of any future conflict in South Asia has grown as a result of the US-Iran war and the following economic weaponization of the shipping and oil exports over the Strait of Hormuz.
China is concerned because of Great Nicobar's location, which might make it an important sentry for India, guarding the Strait of Malacca.

The Strategic Bet of India
The strategic importance of Great Nicobar Island has been recognised by the Indian government more and more in recent months. The government stated in a May statement that the Great Nicobar project "is a strategic project which aims to strengthen India's presence in the Andaman Sea and Southeast Asia."
According to the government, the project is essential to the nation's military and security goals and serves as a nautical and commercial hub near the East-West trade route.The project is intended to improve India's strategic and defence presence, bolster the islands' economic standing, and quicken the region's overall growth," it continued.

Because the island is located directly at the mouth of the Malacca, defence and diplomacy professionals also think the island's marine development has strategic significance.Former Indian Navy vice chief Shekhar Sinha told Al Jazeera, "It is a great place to monitor all the traffic coming in and out of the strait."In reference to New Delhi's capacity to detect and monitor action at sea, he continued, "It would give India an edge in maritime domain awareness."
The Great Nicobar project is likely one of the more significant strategic wagers India has undertaken in recent decades, according to Sanjay Iyer, a former brigadier in the Indian army and military diplomat.

Iyer pointed out that during times of peace, New Delhi will not blockade the Malacca Strait. "No one really anticipates that. However, the equipment on Great Nicobar makes it easier for India to keep an eye on [China's] PLA Navy movements between the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific," he continued.
Beijing would have to go a considerable distance and incur more expenses if Chinese ships used different routes via Indonesia's Lombok or Sunda Straits in order to evade the scrutiny.
Iyer pointed out that India may create a naval barrier on China through the Great Nicobar. "That shifts the calculus in any future stand-off, even if neither side ever fires a shot."

India's Maritime Advantages
The Great Nicobar project will not only provide India a strategic advantage over China but also lessen its dependency on the deep-sea ports of its neighbours. Building the International Container Transhipment Port at Galathea Bay is the main focus of the project. A deep-water port that can accept the biggest container ships alters the unit economics of commerce for India, which has long transshipped a sizable portion of its containers through foreign ports.
As a result, rather than exporting handling costs, insurance margins, and ancillary services, a single mainline call can replace multiple feeder movements through Singapore or Colombo.

Analysts claim that India has been underutilising its potential in the Indian Ocean, a crucial conduit for trade and energy supplies linking Europe, Asia, and Africa. In contrast, observers noted that in order to increase its access to the Indian Ocean, China has been constructing a network of foreign military and commercial infrastructure, energy pipelines, and naval facilities in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
However, according to Ashoka University professor Uday Chandra, "India wants to reduce its logistical dependence on foreign transhipment hubs such as Colombo, Singapore, and Port Klang," as reported by the South China Morning Post.It is an attempt by India to use its inherited colonial topography into a 21st-century marine advantage.

According to Chandra, the Great Nicobar forces India to consider itself an island or marine power. "The Andaman and Nicobar chain is where contemporary India blends into Southeast Asia," Chandra stated. The project could signify "the rise of archipelagic India" and allow it to create "strategic hinges" between the Pacific and Indian oceans for deterrence, logistics, and surveillance.
The Environmental Conundrum
Critics, especially locals, have cautioned that its construction on the island may come at a high ecological cost despite the strategic advantages. The Great Nicobar, which is located in the far south of the Nicobar Islands, is home to a few thousand fishing-dependent populations that rely on the island's ecosystem as well as a few hundred Shompens, a seminomadic hunter-gatherer tribe that lives in dense forest interiors.