Centre to focus on infra upgrade
nNEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who launched India’s first undersea optical fibre project this week, has stepped up efforts to give Andaman & Nicobar its first big power project as part of a continuing effort to upgrade infrastructure in the archipelago of over 572 islands in the Bay of Bengal.
Modi laid the foundation stone for the 50 megawatt (MW) gasbased power plant at Hope Town in South Andaman in December 2018. A tender to establish the plant has been issued, and the bids will be opened on August 28. Bids to set up infrastructure and gas supply will be opened on August 18.
Senior officials said the projects are part of the government’s overarching vision for the islands, and the aim is to use them as a springboard to open new opportunities for India in southeast Asia. It was in this context, one official said, that Modi on Monday unveiled plans to build a transshipment port at Great Nicobar Island.
The officials said that New Delhi wants to pitch the proposed ~10,000 crore port as an alternative other ports in the neighbourhood including those in Sri Lanka and Indonesia’s Banda Aceh. “The idea is to turn Andaman into a major transportation hub that is at the heart of India’s ‘Look East’ policy,” a second government official said. Plans are already afoot to expand the runway at the Campbell Bay airport, he added.
The proposed port lies at the mouth of the Strait of Malacca, the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. More than 90% of crude oil volume flowing through the South China Sea goes through the Malacca Strait. The port is also located strategically near the proposed Kra Isthmus Canal, also known as the Thai Canal, which, once completed, will connect the
Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea and shorten transit for oil shipments to Japan and China by 1,200 km.
In this backdrop, officials said, the need for a steady and clean power source is crucial for expansion of infrastructure. Diesel is so far the predominant source of the electricity mix in the Andaman & Nicobar islands. The 50MW plant will supplement the 20MW solar power project commissioned by the Neyveli Lignite Corporation. The plant has been integrated with an 8MWH battery energy storage system. A 5MW solar plant set up by NTPC is already in operation.
A power ministry official said the power distribution in the islands is being privatised under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. The transaction adviser has completed discussions with the Union Territory’s power department and the ministry of power in Delhi, and is expected to complete the transaction documents by September 2020, he added.