Niti Aayog to hire consultants to prepare development plan for Great Nicobar

New Delhi: Government think-tank Niti Aayog is in process of hiring consultants to prepare a master plan for the holistic development of Great Nicobar Island through public-private partnership model. The Aayog in its Request for Proposal (RFP) said the technical consultant shall prepare a master plan, preliminary engineering design report, financial feasibility and project structuring report in accordance with the terms of reference.

The last date for submission of application is October 6.

Great Nicobar, with an area of around 1,000 square kilometres, is one of the largest islands of the archipelago.


According to the RFP posted on Niti Aayog's website, in consultation with the concerned UT administration and concerned central ministries, it has been decided to undertake the holistic development of Great Nicobar Island.

"India has a total of nearly 1,382 off-shore identified islands consisting of 1,093 shapes (islands) and 289 points (rocks/rocky islets). They are an integral part of our rich unexplored resources with rich biodiversity.

"The potential of these islands is still largely unexplored and untapped. The Government of India intends to set a model in place for holistic development of a few identified islands while preserving and maintaining the natural ecosystem and rich biodiversity that each of them possess," the document noted.

The Aayog refused to accept the requests of potential investors to extend the deadline by two weeks due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Island Development Agency (IDA), an apex body, was constituted in June 2017 under the chairmanship of the then Home Minister Rajnath Singh to undertake a holistic approach in developing the islands of Andaman and Nicobar.

The Aayog has been mandated to steer the Holistic Development of Islands programme, along with the respective UT administration/state governments.