Is the Great Nicobar Island project India’s biggest strategic opportunity—or a costly mistake?
The Rs72,000 crore Great Nicobar Island project has sparked a fierce debate after Rahul Gandhi called it an “environmental disaster.”
But, beyond the politics lies a far bigger story—India is quietly reinventing its maritime strategy.
To examine this apparent trade-off between development and environment, Capital Calculus spoke to Nitin Gokhale, Editor-in-chief of StratNewsGlobal and StratNewsGlobal.Tech. Nitin argues that the Great Nicobar Island project could transform India’s role in global trade, reduce dependence on ports in Colombo and Singapore, and strengthen its strategic position near the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
We discuss:
- Why China is closely watching the Great Nicobar Project
- Can India compete with global hubs like Port of Singapore?
- India’s dependence on foreign transshipment ports
- The shift from a continental to a maritime power
- How India is expanding its coastline and island strategy
- SAGAR vision and India’s Indo-Pacific ambitions
- Economic vs strategic logic behind the project
- What success could look like by 2047
The key takeaway: If India wants to act like a major power, it must start thinking like one.
