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.
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The largest nesting site of giant leatherback turtles in Southeast Asia could soon become one of India’s first transshipment ports. Eleven companies, including the Adani Group, have expressed an interest in building the port at Galathea Bay on the Great Nicobar island, which the Modi government estimates could cost Rs 36,000 crore.
The government has argued that by enabling large container ships to dock in Indian waters, the port will help India wean away lucrative cargo business currently going to Sri Lanka and Singapore.
But shipping experts who spoke to Scroll expressed doubts about the feasibility of the proposed port. Built on a remote island, far away from the Indian mainland, it might not be able to attract significant cargo business, they argued.
On the one hand, the location of the proposed port is an advantage – it lies on a busy trade route and so can tap into revenue from the east-west trade corridor that connects places such as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore in the east to West Asia. The island is just 40 nautical miles from the Malacca Strait shipping channel, through which 35% of annual global sea trade passes.
At the same time, the fact that the island is more than 1,600...
