New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday shared an article on the Great Nicobar Island Project, highlighting its significance and also the strategic edge that the mammoth project will bring to the region in the Indian Ocean. The ambitious scheme has drawn sharp criticism from Congress, which has described it as a ‘major threat’ to the ecological balance of the region.

The Prime Minister described the project as one of strategic, defence and national importance and said that this will transform the region into a major hub of maritime and air connectivity in the Indian Ocean Region.

Taking to X, the PMO shared an article penned by Union Minister Bhupender Yadav and wrote, “Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav explains that the Great Nicobar Island Project, which is of strategic, defence and national importance, transforms the region into a major hub of maritime and air connectivity in the Indian Ocean Region. He highlights it as a prime example of economy and ecology complementing each other.”

Bhupendra Yadav, the Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, on Friday penned an article in a leading daily about the advantages of the Great Nicobar project while also affirming the Modi government’s commitment to promoting economy and ecology together.

“The decision to develop Great Nicobar Island has been taken after due consideration of its ecological, social and strategic aspects,” he said in a post on X while sharing a detailed explainer on the contentious project.

He informed that the Great Nicobar Island Project is an ambitious project with an integrated development plan that comprises an international container transhipment terminal (ICTT) with a capacity of 14.2 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit), a greenfield international airport, a 450 MVA gas and solar-based power plant, and a township of an area of 16,610 hectares.

“The project is designed to transform Great Nicobar into a major hub of maritime and air connectivity in the Indian Ocean Region and poses no threat to the island’s tribal groups, does not come in the way of any species, and does not jeopardise the eco-sensitivity of the region,” the Union Minister explained, while brushing aside Opposition’s reservations over the project.

Days ago, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi penned a column on the Great Nicobar Island Project and raised concerns that it threatens “one of the world’s most unique flora and fauna ecosystems and is highly susceptible to natural disasters”.

“The totally misplaced Rs 72,000 crore expenditure poses an existential danger to the Island’s indigenous tribal communities,” she stated.

–IANS

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