Data centres in Andaman & Nicobar: why did island administration withdraw its own proposal?
The Andaman & Nicobar Islands administration issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) on August 10, 2026 inviting hyperscalers, cloud service providers and data centre developers to explore setting up a "green" AI/data centre vertical, with seven proposed sea-based sites across Great Nicobar (Campbell Bay, Anderson Bay, Vijay Nagar Bay, Gandhi Nagar Bay) and Little Andaman (Hutbay, Netaji Nagar Bay)
The EoI was withdrawn "with immediate effect" just four days later, on August 14, 2026, with the administration citing unspecified "administrative reasons"
The proposed sites overlapped with areas earmarked in the islands' draft master plan for wildlife corridors, biodiversity tourism and coastal tourism activity, raising land-use conflicts
The episode has drawn renewed attention to the larger Great Nicobar Island mega-infrastructure project, where local Nicobarese communities and tribal rights groups have separately raised objections over land, forest and livelihood impacts
Great Nicobar Island Development Project
This is a multi-component mega-infrastructure project on Great Nicobar Island — the southernmost island in the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago — conceived by NITI Aayog and implemented through the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO).
Key Details
- Four components: an International Container Transshipment Terminal at Galathea Bay, a greenfield international (dual civil-military use) airport, a 450 MVA gas-and-solar power plant, and a township/tourism development
- Estimated cost: originally around ₹72,000-75,000 crore, revised upward to approximately ₹81,000 crore
- Involves diversion of roughly 130 sq km of tropical forest land on the island and denotification of the Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary (originally notified in 1997, and identified by the environment ministry as among India's most important marine turtle nesting habitats) by the National Board for Wildlife to enable construction
- In April 2023, the National Green Tribunal, while not staying the project outright, constituted a high-powered committee (including the Zoological Survey of India, Botanical Survey of India, CPCB and Wildlife Institute of India) to re-examine the environmental clearance granted to the project
The withdrawn data centre EoI proposed sites on Great Nicobar and Little Andaman that would have added a further layer of infrastructure and land-use pressure on top of the already-contested mega-project, in areas the draft master plan had earmarked for conservation and tourism rather than industrial use.
Tribal Protections in Great Nicobar — PVTG Status and the 1956 Regulation
Great Nicobar is home to two distinct indigenous communities with different legal statuses: the semi-nomadic, largely uncontacted Shompen, and the more populous, settled Nicobarese.
Key Details
- The Shompen are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) — India currently notifies 75 PVTGs across 18 states and the Andaman & Nicobar UT, identified using four cumulative criteria (pre-agricultural technology, stagnant/declining population, extremely low literacy, and general backwardness); the Shompen's population was recorded at 229 in the 2011 Census
- The southern Great Nicobarese are recognised as a Scheduled Tribe (not a PVTG) and are a more settled agricultural community
- Both communities' land and habitation rights are governed by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956, rather than the Fifth or Sixth Schedule frameworks that apply on the Indian mainland and in Northeast India — this Regulation empowers the Chief Commissioner to declare "reserved areas" predominantly inhabited by aboriginal tribes and restrict entry/settlement by outsiders
- A dedicated Policy on the Shompen Tribe of Great Nicobar Island (2015), notified in the Andaman & Nicobar Gazette, sets out safeguards for the PVTG's welfare and non-interference with their semi-nomadic lifestyle
Any large-scale infrastructure or industrial siting on Great Nicobar — whether the port-airport-township project or a proposed data centre vertical — directly engages this 1956 tribal-protection regime and PVTG safeguards, which is the legal basis for objections raised by Nicobarese community representatives.
Environmental Clearance and Coastal Regulation Framework for Island Territories
Infrastructure proposals on Andaman & Nicobar Islands are governed by a specialised coastal and environmental regime distinct from the mainland framework.
Key Details
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the Island Protection Zone (IPZ) Regulations, 2019 for Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep, replacing the earlier Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) framework for these islands and easing several restrictions to align with NITI Aayog's holistic island development push
- Under the EIA Notification, 2006, projects of this scale fall under Category A, requiring appraisal by the Union-level Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) and a public hearing before grant of environmental clearance
- The Island Development Agency (IDA), constituted in 2017 under the Ministry of Home Affairs with the Union Home Minister as chairman and the CEO of NITI Aayog as convener, oversees the "holistic development" push for India's islands, including Great Nicobar
The administration's own withdrawal of the data centre EoI within four days — before any formal EIA or public hearing process had even begun — suggests the sites were identified without adequate screening against the existing Category A clearance and Island Protection Zone requirements applicable to Great Nicobar.
- Data centre EoI issued: August 10, 2026; withdrawn: August 14, 2026 (within 4 days)
- Seven proposed sites: 4 in Great Nicobar (Campbell Bay, Anderson Bay, Vijay Nagar Bay, Gandhi Nagar Bay), 2 in Little Andaman (Hutbay, Netaji Nagar Bay)
- Great Nicobar project cost: approximately ₹81,000 crore (revised from an original estimate of ~₹72,000-75,000 crore)
- Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary notified: 1997; denotified by NBWL to enable the transshipment port
- NGT constitutes review committee on Great Nicobar environmental clearance: April 2023
- Shompen (PVTG) population: 229 (2011 Census); total PVTGs notified in India: 75 across 18 states and 1 UT
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation: enacted 1956
- Island Protection Zone (IPZ) Regulations for A&N and Lakshadweep notified: 2019