Environment management plans of Nicobar project op to cost ₹9K-cr: ANIIDCO
The MHA has sanctioned ₹88.69 crores towards the first year’s expenditure for wildlife conservation plans.
The environment management plan for wildlife, compensatory afforestation, tribal welfare , and conservation and mitigation measures during construction and operation of the entire Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project will cost around ₹9162.22 crores according to minutes of the meeting of monitoring committee, held in November last year, and available on ANIIDCO (Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation Limited) website.

The ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) informed the Rajya Sabha last year that the cost of the Great Nicobar infrastructure project is ₹81,834.22 crore.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned ₹88.69 crores towards the first year’s expenditure for wildlife conservation plans, which is expected to be released shortly, minutes of the meeting held on November 21 state. Anthony Johnson, scientist at the state-run Wildlife Institute of India (WII) said,according to the minutes,thatthe institute has submitted a research proposal on a conservation plan for three important species, Leatherback Sea Turtle, Nicobar Megapode, and Saltwater Crocodile and that a detailed conservation plan will be prepared only after a detailed study for two years. Similar submissions have been made by the Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History and Indian Institute of Forest Management. Accordingly, WII has requested for expediting release of funds for carrying out field studies.
The minutes of the meetings of the monitoring committee to oversee the implementation of the environment management plan for the project have been published on the ANIIDCO website recently. These finally provide information on how various institutions involved in the project plan to manage its environmental impact, independent environmentalists who are tracking the project said.
C Raghunathan, additional director, Zoological Society of India, Kolkata said, according to the minutes, that the conservation management plan has been prepared in accordance with environment clearance (EC) and coastal regulation zone (CRZ) conditions based on existing data. S Dinesh Kanan, chief conservator of forests added that ANIIDCO must ensure the inclusion of EC and CRZ conditions in master plan being prepared by the project developer, ANIIDCO. The officials also said that institutions which have not made detailed management plans or conservation plans should do it on priority.
The Island Development Agency (IDA) under the chairmanship of Union home minister, decided to undertake holistic development plan for Great Nicobar Island. In October/November 2022, the Union environment ministry granted forest , EC and CRZ clearance to the project. The project includes a port, airport, power plant and township, including an area for defence personnel, and is being implemented the the ministries of ports, civil aviation, power, and defence.
The project report of the port and the airport are up for approval by the Union cabinet, according to the minutes and that for the power plan and the township are under preparation. No construction has started, the minutes added.
The project involves 44.2 sq km of revenue land; 121.87 sq km of protected forest; and 8.88 sq.km of deemed forest (which is part of the revenue land).
ANIIDCO has also released minutes of the six monitoring committee meetings held since March 2023.
The Great Nicobar project has been contentious mainly because of its potential environmental impacts in the global biodiversity hotspot.Last year ANIIDCO began the process for selection of contractors for “enumeration, felling, logging, and transportation” of trees as part of the Great Nicobar development project.
According to existing research, a rainforest can have trees ranging between 500 to 800 per hectare of land, an ecologist said.
The Nicobar Islands fall in the Sundaland Biodiversity Hotspot and cover the western half of the Indonesian archipelago — a group of some 17,000 islands stretching 5,000 kilometers — that is dominated by the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Concerns have also been raised about the impact of such a mega infrastructure project on the Shompen, a particularly vulnerable tribal group, and the Nicobarese.
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said in August last year that “exemplary mitigation measures” have been incorporated to minimise the environmental impact of the project, “keeping the strategic, national and defence interests” in mind.
