When Dubai built the Jebel Ali Port in the late 1970s, skeptics called it a folly in the desert. Today, it is the cornerstone of the Gulf’s economic success. Drawing that parallel, maritime historian Nick Collins wrote on X, “When Dubai built Jebel Ali, many thought it madness. Now it anchors the Gulf economy. India’s Nicobar project may not be as momentous, but it's a bold move and part of a potential maritime focus in which Delhi’s bureaucracy lets Indian entrepreneurship take India forward.” Advertisement

His words capture the ambition — and the risk — behind India’s Rs 72,000-crore Great Nicobar Project, one of the country’s most audacious infrastructure ventures in recent decades.

Strategic Bet

Approved by the Union Cabinet in 2021, the Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Islan

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