Groundwork starts for second Nicobar airfield close to key China route

India has formally begun the process of constructing a second airfield on the strategically located Great Nicobar Island, the country’s southernmost territory overlooking the Strait of Malacca, a crucial shipping route to China and the Far East.

The proposed airfield will come up at Chingen, adjoining Galathea Bay on Great Nicobar, which is part of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. The location lies 150 km north-west of Banda Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Great Nicobar already hosts an operational naval airbase, INS Baaz, situated at Campbell Bay. The facility overlooks the vital ‘Six Degree Shipping Channel’ between Great Nicobar and Sumatra. Galathea Bay is located a few km south of INS Baaz, placing it closer to the shipping channel that leads to the Strait of Malacca. According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, more than 96,000 vessels (an average of over 260 per day) transit the Malacca Strait annually.

Estimated to cost Rs 8,573 crore, the project is being handled by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and being developed as a dual-use greenfield airport. The AAI has invited bids from Indian companies to serve as project management consultants under the tender of “Project management consultancy services for development of greenfield airport at Great Nicobar Island”. The bids close on December 26.

Though the project is being overseen by the AAI, the facility will be open for use by naval planes, UAVs and also the Indian Air Force. Sources said it would function as a dual-use facility on the lines of the airports in Chandigarh, Dabolim (Goa), Pune, Leh and Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair).

The airport is part of the wider project called the International Container Transhipment Port at Galathea Bay, which is being positioned as a logistics hub to rival Singapore. There were some green issues, but Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said in August that “exemplary mitigation measures had been incorporated to minimise the ecological impact of the strategic facility”.

Meanwhile, the expansion of INS Baaz is also underway, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh conducting an on-the-spot review in 2023. The base has facilities to operate special operation planes, Dornier (maritime surveillance place), Air Force’s C-130J and Airbus C-295.

The expansion project signifies a critical component of India's military modernisation and strategic positioning in the India-Pacific region, particularly in response to China's growing presence in the Indian Ocean.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands already has a Joint Operations Centre for integrated planning of surveillance and other operations. Also, there are plans to expand the runway at INS Kohassa, a naval air station located at Shibpur North Andaman, to accommodate larger military aircraft, new ammunition dumps and capacity upgrades for fighter jets. “The development of military bases, complemented by civilian infrastructure projects such as the Great Nicobar Island development initiative, reflects consolidation in this strategically vital region,” said an official.